Mobile Suit Gundam: Armageddeon's Cry
by djb21212-Steeldramon21
Summary: In the aftermath of warfare between Earth and the space colonies, the fate of many lives rests with Amuro Ray, who must leave his personal demons behind, and the various heroes of the Mobile Suit Gundam saga. Updated August 25, 2005.
1. Prologue

Mobile Suit Gundam  
Armageddon's Cry  
Written by: djb21212 

Disclaimer: Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, Mobile Suit Gundam F91, After War Gundam X, and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED all belong to Sunrise and Bandai.

Note: Since this story involves merging several storylines together, several elements have been changed for most of the characters. You'll see this later. I should warn you that as far as the couples are concerned, some are close to canon while certain ones are my own opinions. Please don't flame me saying that name/name shouldn't be together. It doesn't detach from the main storyline.

This story was inspired by and heavily based on the DC Comics Elseworlds novel "Kingdom Come" by Elliot S! Maggin and the original version of my story "Memories of Sorrow".

* * *

In the calendar year 0079 of the Universal Century, the Earth Federation was embroiled in a bitter war with the Republic of Zeon. For a time, a stalemate was held between the two combating factions until it was broken with the introduction of the Zeon's mass-produced war machines, a series of mobile suits known as the Zaku. They had managed to hold the Federal Forces at bay, even going as far as dropping entire space colonies on their once-proud homeworld. It was in this year that the Earth Federation finally began "Project V", and began secret development of the series of mobile suits that would be known as Gundams. 

The first of these Gundams would be tested by Amuro Ray when a series of Zaku IIs invaded the space colony of Side 7 and turned it into a warzone. Since then, after becoming part of the crew of the Pegasus-class carrier "White Base", Amuro became one of the most successful pilots to grace the Earth Federation. His abilities allowed the war to be won by the Earth Federation, yet it was only the first nail in the coffin that would spell his own demise.

Several years later, after the tragic conflict known as "Operation Stardust" in UC 0083, the Federal Forces commissioned a special task force called the Titans to find the remaining Zeon forces and eliminate them. However, they soon became corrupted with their own power and declared another unofficial war with the space colonies. The Anti-Earth Union Group, led by a mysterious man named Quattro Bagina, soon fought back against the Titans with the help of veteran soldiers such as Captain Bright Noah. Amuro was eventually convinced to return to aid the AEUG but was not the same young man as before. His experiences in space had taken away his will to fight, his spirit held back by the memories of the One Year War. Nevertheless, he became an inspiration for his young protégé, a young man named Camille Bidan who piloted the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam.

In UC 0093, Amuro was called on once again to help Londo Bell against the revitalized forces of Neo-Zeon led by his archnemesis, Char Aznable. The two clashed in an epic battle above Earth's atmosphere, one that would decide the fate of so many lives. Char's mobile suit, the AMX-009 Sazabi "Nightingale", was destroyed by Amuro's RX-93 NuGundam as the asteroid base Axis began to plummet into Earth. Amuro tried to stop the falling asteroid and succeeded but at a heavy cost. When Axis left the Earth's atmosphere, the NuGundam was nowhere to be found. If Amuro had survived, no one knew of where he was.

With Amuro and Char gone, Neo-Zeon began to split into varying factions, each claiming a right to finish what their predecessor started. The Crossbone Vanguard, headed by Korozo "Iron Mask" Ronah, began a series of attacks on the Frontier series of colonies closest to Earth. Meanwhile, the elusive Space Revolutionary Army led a massive project called "Operation: Daria" to drop the remaining colonies onto Earth. The Federation was at a loss to stop these attacks, even with their mass-production GX-9900 Gundam X mobile suits. Eventually, much of the Earth was devastated by the colony drops, the casualty list growing more and more enormous with each passing day. Eventually, the Earth Federation was completely dismantled in the aftermath, replaced with the newer Earth Alliance. Despite having a new name, it was plagued with the same problems as it dealt with the rebellious forces of ZAFT. It is now XX99 of the Universal Century, or 0071 of the new Cosmic Era calendar.

* * *

The sun was at it's brightest as the hovercar drove down the abandoned roadway, it's gleaming metal surface catching the sunlight. The blond-haired passenger looked around, taking time to reflect on the surroundings she found herself in. More and more of the world was becoming like this scenery, the aftermath of the colony drops weighing heavily on the inhabitants of this planet. Patchs of grass still grew defiantly in the browning dirt, a testament of the Earth's resistance to her inhabitants' abuse. 

The car slowed in front of a modestly-designed house, at peace with it's surroundings in this setting of abandonment. She knew she would find him here. After all, he had built this house himself after the Gryps conflict of UC 0087. It was his personal escape from the modern settings of the cities, a place to let himself relax. She was one of the few that knew of this place's existence, even though it was many years ago that she had been here. She stepped out of the hovercar and removed the dark sunglasses from her ocean-blue eyes, musing over how little things changed over the years. For Sayla Mass, it seemed like a lifetime ago.

Sayla had changed little from the distant young girl she was those years ago on the White Base. The years had been kind to her, adding a type of beauty to her that some women envied and men were attracted to. Still, she remained distant when working as a doctor, devoting most of her energy to healing her patients. It was one of the reasons that brought her here today, to this rural setting. To see a patient as well as a friend.

She approached the doorway and knocked gently, hoping that he was there. The door opened and she was greeted by a familiar round-shaped robot.

"Haro! Welcome Sayla! Haro!" the little robot said to her.

"It's nice to see you again, Haro." Sayla replied, smiling slightly as she entered the house. It was modestly decorated, computer equipment scattered throughout the area in disarray. She walked through until she entered the bedroom, where Amuro Ray was waiting for her.

Amuro, on the other hand, had changed a great deal in the last few years. Though being a Newtype granted him longevity somewhat, he still bore a look of someone much older than he was. Not from age, but from experience. Since the Neo-Zeon War, he had been in deep seclusion here, refusing to even come close to the cities or colonies in space. His brown hair was showing signs of going gray, his once vibrant brown eyes now tired. His body was as healthy as always, but all of his energy went to customizing Haro and building computer equipment. This was what brought Sayla here, not because he was ill physically, but spiritually ill. His spirit was broken, lost to the echoes of time.

"Sayla..." Amuro said as he hugged her lightly, smiling for the first time all day. "It's good to see you again."

"Thank you, Amuro." Sayla told her friend as she kissed him lightly on the lips. It was gentle, not like lovers would, but as people who shared a genuine and deep relationship with each other over the years.

When Amuro's NuGundam had crashed on the shores of eastern Europe, he was rushed to a hospital where she happened to be working. After treating his injuries, the two had restarted their friendship and bonded on a level that was denied fourteen years before. Hence the reason she was one of the few who knew of Amuro's private home. They had never spoken of love between them, despite all of the signs that were there many years later. It was never necessary for them. Nevertheless, it was obvious that the two cared for each other in a way that wasn't put into words.

Amuro pulled out a chair from his desk for Sayla to sit in as she took out some of her medical supplies from a bag she had brought. She moved her stethoscope under his shirt gently, listening to his heartbeat. After several seconds, she removed the cold metal from Amuro's chest and sat down.

"So what brings you by, Sayla?" Amuro asked. "I know you didn't come all the way from Europe just for my annual checkup."

Sayla smiled slightly as she leaned forward, taking Amuro's hand into her own, feeling the warmth of her flesh passing into his. "No, Amuro, I didn't come here for that nor just to visit." Her smile faded as she prepared to tell Amuro the news. "Several attacks have been launched on the colonies. One of them was completely destroyed several months ago. They're sending Londo Bell's forces out now to help their fleets."

"And your point is?" Amuro said coldly as he stood to face the window, releasing the blond-haired woman's hand. "My life is not with the colonies or it's peoples anymore. It's no longer part of who I am."

"They were innocent people in this, Amuro." Sayla told him. "And she was your wife. I think that makes it a part of who you are."

"No one's innocent in a war, Sayla. You know that." Amuro turned to her, a dark look in his eyes. "I have better things to do with my time than worry about another war breaking out."

"They need you, Amuro, now more than ever. You're one of the best pilots there is. They look to your leadership in times like this."

"Not anymore. I have obligations here."

"I can't believe you don't care at all about what's going on out there." Sayla said angrily, not believing that her friend would be so unfeeling about everything that has happened. "How can you be so damn cold about this, Amuro? It isn't like you."

"I did care once... and it cost me heavily." Amuro returned his attention to the window, lost in the memories of his own grief. Sayla could see that pain written on his face, wishing that she could take it away from his wounded spirit. She laid a hand on his shoulder, a gentle consolation effort, and prepared to leave. She was going to the spaceport to meet with Bright Noah and the Ra Calium, to offer her services one last time. She turned to Amuro, his attention still on the view outside the window. Sayla wanted him to come with her, to finally begin putting the ghosts of his pasts behind him. It hurt her to see her friend like this, in so much pain after so long in his self-imposed exile.

"I don't know the future, Amuro, but I do know that there won't be one unless we act upon it. You have to face this, or the madness will just go on."

"...I'm sorry, Sayla." Amuro told her without looking from the window. "I can't do anything from here. Head for one of the neutral colonies. You'll be safe there."

Sayla looked at the once-powerful Newtype one last time and departed the room, leaving Amuro alone in the memories of his losses. He heard the door close, already sensing right away where she was going. But he couldn't go with her yet. He couldn't become involved again, not after it cost the life of his wife, Beltochika Irma.

He had met Beltochika when he began helping as part of the Kalaba, an extension of the AEUG that acted mostly on Earth against the fascist Titans. She was there for him when he was still grieving from the death of Lalah Sune, a death that he had caused during his battles with Char. Their relationship was culminated with their engagement in late UC 0093 and, for several months after the Neo-Zeon War, they were happy with each other and even planned to start a family.

Then the Seventh Space War began and the colonies started falling...

Amuro blamed himself for not being there, for not keeping his promise to protect her. When he discovered she was killed, it cut into his spirit like no pain he'd ever experienced before. He first wanted to find those responsible, to make them pay in blood for taking the woman he loved from him. When he found that the newly-founded Earth Alliance was willing to grant amnesty to the Space Revolutionary Army's forces, who were claiming responsibility, that was the final straw. He left that life, and all that it held for him, behind only to be cast into an exile far from his former life.

He eased himself into the desk chair near his bed, pulling out the portable laptop he kept nearby. He checked the news for the day, reading over the reports of some of the colonies, renamed PLANTS for some reason, were under the control of ZAFT, the latest faction to spring up lately. Their leaders were claiming the same ideals that the Zeon Republic once did, of the supremacy of spacenoids over the Earth inhabitants. He then glanced to a picture of the Earth Alliance leaders, seeing a very familiar face with them. His eyes were covered by dark sunglasses and his hair was different yet something told him it was the same man.

Char Aznable.

'So he's still around after all.' Amuro thought to himself as he got up. Char was up to something, much like he was during the Gryps conflict. He had to find out what. He rose from the chair and went to his living room, Haro following behind him.

"Haro! Where are you going, Amuro? Haro!" the little robot asked.

"To follow a hunch, Haro." Amuro said as he moved a section of the wooden floorboards. "Keep the house neat until I get back."

Under the floorboards was a metal hatchway, a recent addition to the house that Amuro made many years before. He thought he would never have to open it until now. He typed a sequence of numbers on the computerized lock, hearing the familiar click that the hatch was unlocked. He opened it slowly and, seeing the ladder on one side of the long tunnel, stepped down into it. His movements were slow, carefully measured so he wouldn't slip. After a few minutes, he reached the bottom of the tunnel and opened another metal doorway, entering the small hangar behind it.

The hangar was musty after not seen daylight for several years. It had gone unnoticed by all above, shielded by layers of terrain and concrete. Amuro knew that it would be safe here, away from Minosky particle sensors. It was here that he spent the last few years refitting the RX-93 NuGundam into a newer, more modern mobile suit.

The NuGundam, at first, had to rely on fin funnels and Amuro's own Newtype abilities in battle. He redesigned the fin funnels and moved them to a new housing on the mobile suit's back. The framework and armor was repainted to eliminate overheating and new venier thrusters were installed on the legs and backpack. Finally, a beam shield generator was added to eliminate excess weight. By the time Amuro was finished, the NuGundam was a completely different mobile suit.

He climbed up to the cockpit of the mobile suit, thinking back to the many times he had done this. It was almost second nature to him now. He opened the door and looked down inside, seeing the darkened controls that he hadn't touched in years. He brought up the main power feeds and began the systems check, initiating the start-up sequence as the giant doors above him opened. The venier thrusters ignited one by one, sending an echoing roar inside the cavernous hangar. Amuro strapped himself in and said words that haven't been uttered by his lips for many years.

"Amuro Ray, RX-93-2 Hi-NuGundam, launching now!"

With a mighty roar of it's engines, the white mobile suit charged upward through the doors, escaping it's concrete prison of the last six years. In the setting sun, it appeared almost angelic. The Gundam flew over the landscape, heading to the spaceport to finish what should have been finished long ago.


	2. Part 1

(Part 1) 

The spaceport was alive with weapons fire as several of the RGM-89 Jegan mobile suits and Mobius Zero mobile armors exchanged shots with the ZAFT mobile suits, the glows of the various beam rifles and cannons lighting the night sky in shades from vibrant yellow to white. The battle had begun as a surprise to the personnel of the spaceport, sending many of the civilians scrambling for the emergency shelters. Though the casualties would have been severe without the aid of Bright Noah and the Ra Calium's crew.

Bright Noah sat straight in the command chair of his ship, watching and directing battle efforts in this familiar setting. In all the years he had been in command, he had grown very accustomed to seeing the elaborate dances of warfare. It seemed only yesterday that he was on the bridge of the White Base, taking command in place of Captain Cassius. The situation was nearly a mirror image of this one. Fate was sometimes ironic in that way.

"What's the status of our forces?" Bright asked.

"Two of the Jegans are severely damaged," said a young man, Lieutenant Morgan, at the helm control, "five Mobius Zero armors are reporting light damage. Eight pilots report injuries but no casualties yet."

"Damn. I was afraid of that." Bright stood up and looked over the display on the main viewer. It never seemed to change, as if history were playing a cruel game with him. He was grateful that Mirai and his children weren't here, that they were safe at home and away from the battlefield.

"Sir, I have an incoming mobile suit." another person called over the bridge. "Bearing: four kilometers and closing fast."

* * *

Amuro remained as calm as ever, forcing the controls of the Hi-NuGundam forward as he sped towards the battlefield. He knew that the Federal Forces were fighting a losing battle. Not only were the Jegans already severely out of date, they were still outnumbered by the ZAFT mobile suits and armors. The tide had to turn now. 

"Engage fin funnels." Amuro said to the computer. He heard the familiar sound of the bits activating as he cleared his mind, focusing on the enemy mobile suits and armors. He could see every move they made, every burst of their weapons. The fin funnels all split up and targeted the ZAFT mobile suits closest to his position, each firing a beam shot to disable them.

"Good." Amuro said when he didn't feel the familiar taint of death from the enemy mobile suits. "No one else has died yet. I've still got time."

* * *

"Can you bring the new mobile suit up?" Bright asked, already having a hunch on who the pilot was. Only a powerful Newtype could wield weapons as strong as funnels with such pinpoint accuracy. 

"Yes sir." The schematic scans showed on the holographic screen and Bright almost gasped in shock. The configuration matched the NuGundam, a mobile suit he hadn't seen in many years since the Neo-Zeon conflict.

"Sir, we're getting hailed over the COM by the pilot." One of the helmsman reported.

"All right." A tone of relief and surprise flooded over the bridge once the familiar voice was heard over the COM lines.

"Sorry I'm late, Bright, but I had to make sure the fin funnels were still working on NuGundam's frame."

"...Amuro Ray." Bright said, immensely relieved to hear the sound of his old comrade's voice after so long. "It's good to hear your voice. But how did..."

"I'll explain later once I'm onboard. Is Sayla there already?"

"She... she took the Re-GZ out several minutes ago to cover the rear flanks."

"What?" Amuro said in shock. "She's using that thing out there?" Not only had Sayla not piloted anything in nearly twenty years, but that mobile suit had ended up almost killing anyone who tried to pilot it. He couldn't let that happen again. He switched off the COM channel, cursing as he reversed course for the rear flanks of the battle, hoping he could catch up to her before it was too late.

"Sir, we've lost contact with the NuGundam." Morgan reported. Bright leaned back in his chair, understanding the shock Amuro's voice had carried once he told him.

"Prepare the weapons for a full assault. We've got to give our people some backup support."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Sayla moved the RGZ-91 ReGZ around, trying to lay down some fire with her beam rifle and cover the remaining Jegans. It had been a long time since she piloted anything close to a mobile suit. The G-Fighter and RX-78 Gundam were hard enough to master, but the ReGZ was much more complex since it was based on the Zeta Gundam. Yet she spent the last three weeks going over the controls with Astionage and the hangar crew of the Ra Calium, getting reacquainted with the feel of a mobile suit again. 

Around her were the remaining Jegans, all engaged with several GINN and DINN mobile suits from ZAFT. They were fighting a losing battle against this new technology, despite most of the pilots having more experience in the battlefield. The devastation weighed heavily on Sayla's mind as she pushed the Re-GZ into the fray.

"Units 305 and 306, cover the rear!" she ordered as she unleashed blast after blast of beam energy at the enemy mobile suits. Suddenly, she saw several DINNs destroyed by something she'd never thought she'd see: a pair of fin funnels.

"Sayla, are you all right?" A wave of relief washed over her when she saw the Hi-NuGundam rush into the battlefield, Amuro's voice calling over the COM. A small smile graced her lips, glad to see that her friend had put his self-doubts aside for the time being.

"Amuro... so you've decided to come anyway."

"Why did you take out the Re-GZ into battle?" Amuro asked as he sliced into a DINN with his beam saber. "You know that mobile suit's dangerous for whoever uses it!"

"I can handle it, Amuro!" Sayla replied, unleashing her own beam saber and turning to another COM channel. "Units 302 and 308, watch your backs! They're getting too close!" She switched back to Amuro's COM channel, feeling apologetic towards her friend. She knew that he meant well but much had changed since twenty years ago, when he was a pilot and she was the medic for the White Base.

"Sayla, you don't understand!" Amuro tried to say, launching several of his fin funnels to cover them with an I-field. "Anyone whose ever piloted the Re-GZ almost always ended up being killed! I don't want that to happen to you or anyone else!"

Sayla was silent, digesting what Amuro had told her and what she read on the history of that mobile suit. True, it donned a bad reputation from the deaths of it's pilots in the Neo-Zeon conflict. Despite that, not only was it one of the best suits available but she had seemed to master it well enough.

"I appreciate your concern, Amuro, but I can do this." Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw the remaining enemy forces begin to retreat. She wanted to move to finish them off but Amuro stopped her.

"Let them go. There's been enough bloodshed today." The two flew their mobile suits towards the Ra Calium, followed by the remaining Jegans and Mobius Zeros.

* * *

"Sir, our forces are returning to the ship with the NuGundam and Re-GZ." Morgan reported to Bright as the bridge activity began to settle. 

"As soon as everyone's aboard, prepare to launch immediately." Bright ordered. "Our orders are to head to the moon to rendezvous with the rest of our forces."

"Yes sir." After a few minutes, the familiar rumble of the massive battleship's engines could be felt on the bridge as they began to move. Bright felt bitter that he never took the time to enjoy the view of an Earth that was untouched by the scars of war when he was able to. Too often had the opportunity came and went. But for the captain of a battleship, luxuries came last if at all. He understood this yet still regretted it also.

"Morgan, inform the crew that we'll be launching soon. Have the hanger crews make sure all of our mobile suits and armors are ready by then. We may be heading into a war zone."

"Aye, captain."


	3. Part 2

(Part 2) 

Camille Bidan stared blankly out of the window of his home on Von Braun City, not really looking at anything but thinking to himself. Many years have passed since the end of the Gryps War against the tyrannical Titans, where his mind was crippled in a last ditch-effort by Paptimus Scirocco as he rammed his ruined Zeta Gundam into the giant mobile suit known as PMX-003 The O. Though he since recovered and regained the use of his mind, he still felt a need to be out there, not confined to his home like an invalid.

Fa Yuri had cared for him in the years after the war, becoming both his nurse and closest confidant but yet seeking something more from the relationship. He couldn't give her what she wanted, the love and affection she deserved from a man who felt the same. The last time he cared deeply for another woman, her life was stolen from her. Even after all these years, the death of Four Murasame haunted him like an ethereal spectre. His heart was still far too wounded to be opened to anyone anymore. It was a risk Camille could no longer afford in his life.

His thoughts were disturbed by a knock on his front door. As he went to open it, he was greeted not by Fa but by what he could only call as a ghost from his past. Camille could barely speak as he digested the sight of this supposedly-dead woman standing in his doorway.

"I was hoping you were home, Camille. You look well."

"...Emma Sheen?"

* * *

The once-neutral spaceport known as Von Braun City was busy with activity of various types, all preparing different ships with supplies and fuel. At one time, this place was a testing ground for the powerful RX78-GP01-FB Gundam Zephyrantes and RX78-GP03S Gundam Stamen, two mobile suits that were developed in UC 0083 by Anaheim Electronics under absolute discretion. Now, it remained as neutral in the conflict between Earth and the PLANTS as when the One Year War occurred. A paradox, given that the forces guarding the lunar metropolis were White Ark-class ships and their supplies of RGM-110 Heavyguns. 

Despite the presence, many former Federation veterans made their home here, away from the conflicts and politics of Earth and the colonies. Some of them chose to market their mobile suits and technologies to the highest bidder. Other simply faded into an obscure existence, far removed from the reality around them. It was here that the recently-converted Freeden II, commanded by Jamil Neate, was moored and being supplied.

Jamil could be described as a quiet man at best, unwilling to share his past or his problems with anyone else. He alone bore the burden and guilt of the 7th Space War, a sense of loss shrouding him in an aura of misery. He had been the one to allow the colonies to fall, to decimate the planet Earth and kill billions of lives. For that, he must repent of that terrible sin by living, if you could call it living.

"You okay, Jamil?" He turned away from the viewport of his room to see Garrod Ran, the young pilot of the GX-9901-DX Gundam Double-X, standing there. Garrod was the opposite of Jamil, a kind-hearted boy who had once lived the life of a carefree rogue. He had, at first, made a life out of acquiring mobile suits and parts as well as selling them for a price. That had changed when he encountered Tifa Adil, a quiet and beautiful young girl as well as a Newtype. His need to protect her drove him to find the original GX-9900 Gundam X and come to the ship.

"They've come already." Jamil said quietly in a cryptic voice, turning to his young protégé. "It's almost time for you to launch, Garrod."

* * *

"Camille, listen to me." Emma tried to tell the confused and panic-stricken young man, understanding her fragile state of mind. "I know you must be confused right now, but I need you to calm down and let me explain." She looked only a few years older, her appearance no different than the last time the former Zeta Gundam pilot had seen her alive. Her brown hair was somewhat longer, fixed in the same style as always, yet her eyes had changed. They seemed much colder, more hardened instead of softer with age as if they had seen too much in their lifetime already. Yet they still reflected the same cool facade he had known her for. Still for Emma Sheen to be alive and standing there, trying to calm him down... 

"Stop!" Camille managed to say, backing into a wall out of confusion and fear. "Don't come any closer!" For several months, he had seen visions of people he cared for coming to haunt him. Sometimes they would ask him why they had to die. Other times they wanted him to come with them into the eternal abyss. He was able to resist it and even ignored them. Now he was questioning his slipping grip on sanity.

"Camille..."

"Just go away and leave me alone! You're not real! You're just a ghost trying to make me insane! I won't let you!"

Emma tensed slightly, somehow knowing that those words would come up somehow. She was running out of time and his mental state was slipping. She moved closer to him, seeing the nervous look in his eyes. She then slapped him. Hard.

"Was that real enough?" Emma grabbed the once-formidable Newtype by his shoulders, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Now I need you to listen, Camille. We don't have a lot of time right now. In a few minutes, a group of terrorists from Blue Cosmos are going to come here to try and kill you."

"...Blue Cosmos?"

"That's right. They're a cell of dissidents who are against Coordinators and Newtypes as a whole. They track down and assassinate anyone on Earth or the moon who is suspected of being one. I've spent the last few months working with the Earth Alliance government trying to track their movements. That's how I knew where to find you." She stopped when Camille gently touched her arms, a look of calm beginning to replace the insanity in his eyes. He was starting to look like the young man she once knew.

"...Emma... you're really here..."

"Yes. I am."

"But... how? I though that you..." His reply was cut off as she pulled a gun out of a holster in her jacket, a now cold resolve settling in her emerald-green eyes. She then carefully opened the front door, first checking to see if there any marksmen or snipers in the area. Positive that it was clear, she returned her attention to Camille.

"You have to come with me, Camille."

The young man stood there, silent at first as he struggled to make sense of what was happening to him. The supposedly dead pilot of the RX-178 Gundam Mark II comes to him, alive and well for some reason, and tells him that he's been marked for death. None of it made any sense. He truly wished he could believe what she was telling him, perhaps someone's way of playing a practical joke on his already fragile ego. Suddenly, he looked past Emma and saw something on the roof across from his home. The familiar glint of sunlight on metal told him that it was one thing.

"Get down!" Camille shouted, pushing Emma to the ground as the air snapped with the sounds of multiple gunshots. He couldn't explain how he knew that was going to happen, since he was robbed of his Newtype powers along with his mind after the Gryps conflict. Adrenaline rushed through his blood as his instincts took over, grabbing Emma's gun and taking a few shots at the roofside marksmen. Turning his attention back to the brown-haired woman beside him, he saw that one of the would-be assassin's bullets had struck true. There was a crimson stain on Emma's leg. He heard her curse as she struggled to stand.

"Shit! Why didn't I see that coming?" Emma moved slowly up the door for support, looking back to the startled face of Camille and seeing that the memories were finally starting to come back to his mind. "You believe me now, Camille?"

"W-we have to get you to a hospital! That wound needs to be..."

"It's just a flesh wound." Emma lied, leaning onto his shoulder for support. "Besides, my orders were to deliver you to the spaceport and safeguard you until then. Right now... that's top priority."

"I don't care about that!" Camille tried to say.

"You'll have to, because if you take me to get treated, both of us will be killed on the way."

Emma let the blue-haired young man guide her to the ground, seeing him tear off a piece of his shirt's sleeve and started wrapping it around the wound. There wasn't time to get anything from his house that might've helped. He then helped her to her feet, a sick feeling washing over him. It was starting again, the senseless bloodshed and violence. This time, he didn't believe any of them would escape it.


	4. Part 3

(Part 3) 

The mood was bitterly quiet as the former Alliance battleship Archangel limped it's way across the ocean. Earlier, the ship had been the victim of betrayal on behalf of the very government it was commissioned by, forced to become the sacrificial lamb of a plan to destroy most of the ZAFT military might. As a result, the Earth Alliance headquarters of JOSH-A had been obliterated in a massive wave of nuclear fire. Without the timely return of Kira Yamato, the former pilot of the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam and current pilot of ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam, all aboard the Archangel would've been killed.

Kira stood on the catwalk overlooking the hangar deck, where the recently-stolen Freedom Gundam rested, and contemplated his fate up to this point. Once, he felt obligated and satisfied that his only reason to fight was to defend his friends. Now, he was trying to help prevent history from repeating itself again. ZAFT and the Earth Alliance were on a collision course, like the Zeon Republic and former Earth Federation had been in UC 0079. If something didn't change soon, no one would survive the conflict.

'I won't let that happen.' Kira thought to himself as he stared up at the dormant Freedom Gundam. 'I won't let this continue. Not when things can be changed.' With that, he began to leave the hangar bay with thoughts of the uncertain future ahead of all of them.

* * *

Cagalli Yula Attha watched from the observation deck as the Archangel slowly made it's way into the water-filled dock. She immediately felt tense at the sight of the once-formidable battleship, it's hull scarred and chipped from repeated assaults. It had been through a horrible fight and lived to tell about it. She had heard rumors of it's escape from the ruined Alaska base and, especially, of Kira Yamato's return with a more powerful mobile suit. 

Kira...

She immediately left the observation deck and raced toward the Archangel, whispers of tension and memories of heartache inside her head. She had gone to the beach on the outskirts of the Orb Kingdom, seeing the ruined remains of the Strike Gundam and it's nemesis, the GAT-X333 Aegis Gundam, scattered everywhere. Her heart sank as the reality sunk in that her friend had died on the battlefield. The horrifying description of what happened from Athrun Zala, Kira's old friend and reluctant enemy, had nearly drove her insane with grief and fury. She had already lost Ahmed, another of her close friends from her days as a guerrilla fighter. She didn't want to lose anyone else.

Cagalli stopped at the entrance to the Archangel, adrenaline racing through her veins as her heart pounded in her chest. She watched as some of the medics brought out one of the wounded soldiers, hoping that when she found Kira, he wasn't in the same state. She had resolved herself to a grief-stricken state of mind, something her father scorned her about sometimes. Uzumi Attha was intelligent and observant as a leader, unwilling to break his resolve of non-interference over a blatant show of force from the Earth Alliance time after time. She respected him enough but felt he didn't understand her at times. She needed to grieve over her friend's death or it would driver her mad.

Then she heard the rumors of his return.

Cagalli entered the battleship, racing through the corridors in search of the azure-eyed young man. If the rumors were only rumors, if it was only someone else who resembled him that defected from ZAFT and saved the ship... She then saw a figure turning a corner, her heartbeat nearly stopping when she saw whom it was. His hair was slightly longer that the last time they saw each other, but understandable so.

"KIRA!"

The brown-haired pilot turned around, falling to the ground when Cagalli tacked him. She hadn't changed at all from the stubborn and fiery blond he knew and respected as his friend. He smiled to himself as she started pounding on his chest.

"You... stupid... jerk!" Cagalli said, hot tears of relief and unvented sorrow flowing down her face. "Do you know how worried I was about you? Don't do this to me again!"

"...Sorry, Cagalli." Kira finally managed to say, happy to let the blond-haired princess vent her feelings onto him. She and everyone else had a difficult time in his absence. She needed this to feel better as much as he needed to help them.

* * *

Athrun Zala blinked the rain out of his eyes as made his way to the old auditorium, the White Rose Amphitheater, an unresolved feeling of betrayal settling in his heart. His father and leader of the ZAFT military, Patrick Zala, had shown him surveillance footage from when the Freedom Gundam was stolen, nearly causing Athrun's blood to run cold. In front of the mobile suit were two figures he immediately recognized. One was Kira Yamato, whom he believed he had killed on Earth in a torrent of rage. Then other was his fiancee, Lacus Clyne, whose father was already suspected to be a collaborator against ZAFT. With that resting on his mind, Athrun was told to take the ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam in pursuit of the stolen mobile suit. 

Lacus...

Athrun knew that that the pink-haired songstress was no traitor. She couldn't have been. And yet he had seen on the video footage, giving away their government's most carefully guarded weapon. He couldn't believe it. It was NOT something Lacus would do. That was what brought him to this place, the place where her career as a songstress and their relationship began. He needed answers from her, anything that would help resolve this confusion and inner conflict as soon as possible.

He walked into the dimly-lit auditorium, his gun drawn and ready in his hands. He didn't want to kill her just to appease his father. If anything, the thought of ending her life sickened him like the thought of having killed Kira made him. For what it was worth, she was still his fiancee and he trusted her. She would never betray her own people, betray him, like that without a logical reason. But still... he was going to get the truth somehow. He had to.

Athrun looked up towards the stage and the sight almost made his heart stop. Lacus was sitting there singing to herself, wearing the same dress she had worn for her first concert there. It seemed to hug the curves of her slim figure gently in several places, reaching down to her feet in shimmering waves of blue and pink. Her hair was pulled into long twin ponytails, cascading down from her head in silky rivers of pink, catching the dim lighting from the stage. She seemed serene, almost resigned to her fate as if she knew he would be here. In many ways, it wasn't far from the truth.

"Lacus!" Athrun called as he walked toward the stage, drawing the attention of the gentle singer. She smiled gently at him, knowing that he would indeed come here to find her.

"I knew you would come, Athrun." Lacus told him as she gazed into his emerald-green eyes, seeing the frustration buried in them. "You always knew just where to find me when we needed to talk. Thank you so much for understanding that."

Athrun whipped out his gun, aiming it at the gentle creature sitting in front of him. He had to do this now, before his emotions got the better of him. He was a ZAFT soldier. It was time to behave like one.

"Lacus..."

"Yes, Athrun?"

"Just tell me the truth." Athrun said calmly as he jumped onto the stage, keeping his composure in check. "Are you collaborating with an enemy spy?" He didn't know how to handle it if she were. Dealing with Kira's betrayal of their friendship when they fought was hard enough to accept, but this... Lacus was one of the few left to him that he thought he could trust. Her brteayal would destroy him.

"No, I am not collaborating with an enemy spy." Lacus told him, making Athrun silently breath a mental sigh of relief. "All I did was provide Kira with a new sword to fight with."

"How can you say that?" Athrun retorted, again aiming his gun at her, her statement bringing sorrowful memories into his mind. Why would she lie to him like that? What the hell was she talking about? Did she even know what happened on Earth several days earlier? "Kira's gone, Lacus! He was... I'd..."

"...Killed him with your own hands?" Lacus finished. Athrun froze, wondering how his fiancee knew what had happened between the two former friends on Earth. He had only told his father and that was in a debriefing report when he returned the day before.

"How did you..." Athrun started to asked, now more confused than ever.

"Before you say anymore, Athrun, Kira is still alive. He was brought to me by Reverend Malchio and had told me everything. That's how I knew about what you two had been through."

"You're lying!" Athrun told her, his hands starting to shake as he kept the metallic instrument of death pointed at her. He was somewhat familiar with the clergyman Lacus mentioned. He had run an orphanage for children whose parents were involved with the war or were victims of the recent colony drops. Yet he couldn't trust Lacus's words. He couldn't afford to have that leap of faith in her. He swallowed hard as he fought to keep his hand steady. The last thing he wanted was for the gun to accidentally fire. "Even if it were true, why would you give him a weapon just to fight against his own people again?"

"Kira changed his mind that day, Athrun, about what he was fighting for." Lacus said as she stood, staring back into his dark-green eyes. "He said that he now wanted to fight for what he believed in. He wanted to prevent the mistakes of the past wars, like the colony drops, from happening again because of selfish people in power. But what about you?" Her tone became almost accusing as she stepped closer to Athrun, unafraid of the weapon pointing at her. "What is it that you're you fighting for now? Is it those medals your father pins on you? For the recognition of being a good soldier?"

"Stop it..." Athrun told her, the words she said chipping into his resolve and wearing him down.

"If that's true," Lacus continued as she came closer, "then go ahead and pull the trigger. Then Kira would still be your enemy and so would I."

"Lacus, please..."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Do your duty as a soldier. Follow your father's orders instead of thinking for yourself, Athrun Zala of ZAFT."

Lacus was so close to him that the gun's barrel was buried in her stomach, a commanding look in her ocean-blue eyes. She knew that she was taking a serious gamble with her life now. If it were another person, she would be dead by now. But Athrun wasn't like that. His experience fighting Kira those many times had softened him, made him question himself and his beliefs about ZAFT and his father in general. Patrick Zala was a follower of Gherin Zabi's Zeon philosophies, odd rhetorics about the so-called superiority of those in space compared to Earth. It had made a madman out of him and a slave out of his own son. She wanted Athrun to break that chain, for her sake as well as his own.

Athrun turned away from her in defeat as he lowered his gun, tears beginning to run down his face as bitter realization settled in place of cold frustration. He was a pawn, nothing but a puppet to his father. He fooled himself into following orders, like a good soldier. He had fought and, if Lacus was correct, almost KILLED his friend because he was being a good soldier. He had betrayed everything his instincts told him was true because a good soldier.

"What have I done?" Athrun said quietly. "What... what am I going to do now? Kira... if he is alive, he'll never forgive me for this..."

Lacus touched the side of his face gently, soothing the lament out of him as he looked into her eyes. He was finally beginning to see the truth for himself. Maybe now he'll become the knight and defender she knew he could be.

"It's not too late." she told him gently. "You can still go to Earth and try to find him. Kira is still your friend, after all."

Athrun wanted to believe and trust her words this time, feeling a need to make amends for letting his friend and himself down throughout this war. For him, his own war with his own convictions was finally coming to an end. Suddenly, the door to the auditorium burst open as several armed guards entered. They were Patrick Zala's personal agents, government police who did nothing beyond what they were told.

"Good for you, Athrun Zala." one of them told the black-haired youth. "I see you've secured one of the rebellious Clynes. Your father would be very pleased with you."

His father...

Hearing those words, Athrun stepped protectively in front of Lacus and aimed his gun at them, having finally made a real independant choice. He wasn't going to let anyone pull his strings anymore. He would think for himself this time, not like a soldier who only followed orders from a tyrant.

"I suggest you stand aside, Athrun Zala, otherwise my men would be forced to end you life here and now."

"I'm not going to let them take you, Lacus." Athrun whispered, his stance unmoving so he could protect and shield her. "When I tell you to, I want you to be ready to move with me. Okay?"

Lacus nodded, willing to trust his judgement.

"This is your last warning." The guards then all aimed their guns at Athrun. "Release her to our custody, Athrun Zala, or we will remove you ourselves."

"Now!" Athrun grabbed his fiancee by the waist as the guards started shooting at them, keeping low as the two ducked behind some of the rubble in the ruined auditorium. He then fired some shots of his own with his good arm, since his other arm was in a sling from his injuries on Earth. Only one of the guards went down while the others kept firing at them. A different hail of bullets then began striking the guards, this time from a soldier across the stage. A look of relief swept over Lacus's soft features when she noticed a Clyne Faction symbol on his arm. This was one of her father's men.

"Miss Lacus!" the young man shouted to her and Athrun as two more soldiers joined him. "Your father sent us to protect you! We're here to help you escape!"

"Thank you so much!" Lacus replied as she and Athrun watched the young men strike down the last of the guards. Seigel Clyne was a man of much respect in the PLANT colonies, not because of his more infamous daughter. As a politician, he understood the many courses history had taken over the years. He and Patrick Zala were friends once but he hated the ZAFT leader's zealous views. They were on a destructive course for Armaggedeon and he wanted to stop it. Seigel also knew that Lacus was in danger, obviously, and sent some of his men to protect her.

"What will you do now, Athrun?" Lacus asked the black-haired boy, the two of them walking over to the Clyne Faction soldiers.

"I... I think I'll settle this my own way, Lacus." Athrun told her, an air of uneasy confident in his voice. "I'm supposed to go to Earth and retrieve the Freedom Gundam. After that... after that, I'll decide what to do." He needed time to resolve the dilemma before him, the problem of whether or not he would confront his father. Someday, he would eventually do that.

"I hope that you make a good decision this time." Lacus said, a smile of confidence gracing her beautiful face. She then leaned over and kissed his lips gently, something the two of them haven't done in several months. Athrun brought his hand up to his lips as she released him, a feeling of warmth passing through him from the touch of her soft lips against his. He never expected that, since the kisses they usually shared were out of common courtesy instead of romance.

"Goodbye, Athrun." Lacus said, joining the soldiers as they walked towards the rear exit. Athrun took one last look at the retreating form of his fiancee, his mind reflecting on the words she told him. As he began walking toward the opposite exit, he had already made up his mind about what to do once he got to Earth. He would find Kira and decide what to fight for.

"Goodbye, Lacus." Athrun muttered under his breath, the image of the pink-haired songstress still in his mind as he left the auditorium.


	5. Part 4

(Part 4) 

Amuro watched silently as the Ra Calium's technicians poured over the mobile suits and armors resting in the hangar bay, his mind devoted to thoughts about the battles that lay ahead of them. True, he had enjoyed the sensations of returning to the field with his Hi-NuGundam. The rush, the physical feel of adrenaline pouring into his system was unimaginable. Yet he still felt his only reason for returning was not to fight another war, as he told Sayla before at his home. He didn't care about the Earth Alliance's war with ZAFT or any other debacle. He only wanted to stop Char before the past repeated itself again.

Char Aznable.

The name alone made Amuro flex his fists open and closed with bitterness. The two were sworn and bitter rivals since the days of the One Year War. They had always fought to near stalemates every time they battled each other, both with mobile suits and with bare fists. Time after time both men had almost killed each other and because of their endless rivalry, an innocent life was caught between them and ripped apart.

Lalah Sune.

The memories of her tragic death still loomed over Amuro's soul after all these years, a scar that would never fully fade away from around his heart. He alone bore the weight of causing the young Newtype's death, since it was his Gundam's beam saber that pierced the cockpit of her MAN-08 Elmeth. He had felt her screams of death in his mind, felt her innocent soul float freely into space and away from him. Char had blamed him, of course, and it cemented their rivalry with each other even more. It had finally peaked in UC 0093, when the two of them nearly killed each other in one last battle with Earth looming before them. When Amuro went into his self-imposed exile, he sincerely believed that his long-forged rivalry with Char was over. Now the former "Red Comet" had resurfaced, forcing him to return to the battlefield as well.

'Char...' Amuro thought to himself. 'What the hell are you planning now? Haven't you done enough damage with that damn selfish ambition of yours?'

"I thought you'd be here, Amuro." He turned to see Sayla floating towards him, wearing the white uniform of an Earth Alliance veteran pilot or command-level officer. It seemed too reminiscent of their old Earth Federation uniforms for Amuro's taste, who stayed in his civilian clothing for the time being. He stayed with his conviction not to fight anyone else's wars anymore, yet... the lines were already blurred when he brought the Hi-NuGundam out of it's grave and into the battlefield.

"It looks good on you." Amuro commented as the blond-haired doctor joined him on the catwalk overlooking the mobile suit hangar. "So, you've officially re-enlisted?"

"As of two hours ago." Sayla replied. "Bright said that the Atlantic Federation, the military branch of the Earth Alliance, approved it and reactivated my old service record." She placed a hand on Amuro's shoulder, seeing the focused look his face had gained. "You should go see him, Amuro."

"I'll see Bright later." There was an uneasy silence in the air as the two Newtypes watched Astionage and his workcrews pour over the mobile suits below. Sayla already knew what was really on her friend's mind, since it also affected her as well. At one time, she had thought of Char as her brother, Casval Daikum. It tormented and tortured her for years that he would throw himself into recreating his ideas of what the Zeon ideals were. Zeon Zum Daikum, their late father when she was still known as Artesia instead of Sayla, had intended for the spacebourne Newtypes to be humanity's guides towards a new era of peace. It was the same ideals that George Glenn had studied and tried to practice with the genetically-enhanced spacenoids called Coordinators. Yet the Zabi family polluted her family's name and legacy, a legacy Casval swore to reclaim in vengeance with his life.

Sayla felt a chill run through her when she was briefly reunited with her brother, now known as Char Aznable, in the Texas Colony of Side 5 during the One Year War. His eyes bore the look of someone who had been haunted by revenge, cold and filled with bitterness. She desperately wanted him to give up his need for vengeance, begging him to come with her and be the family they were supposed to be. He told her, not in so many words, that he could never return to being Casval Daikum until his need for vengeance was satisfied. Over the years, Sayla had searched for him in a vain hope that he would abandon his desperate ambition and obsession to rebuild their father's dream. She later learned of his involvement with the Gryps conflict in UC 0088, when she visited Bright Noah on the Near Argama. She felt scared for Char, knowing that he would never rest until Zeon was reclaimed and restored.

Amuro had failed to end her brother's ambition in UC 0093, when both of them were presumed dead. Now, she suspected him being involved with this present war somehow. It prompted her own return from exile, a new resolve now set in her mind. She would have to be the one to stop Char, no matter the cost.

"He's still out there, Sayla." Amuro told her, confirming her earlier suspicions. "I just wish I knew what he was up to." He turned to her, seeing a cold look flashing in her ice-blue eyes. "I couldn't stop him during the Neo-Zeon war. Now, Char is somewhere out there probably trying to start this insanity all over again. The real question is when and not where, though."

Sayla stared directly ahead, her eyes full of cold bitterness and contempt for the man she once called her brother. "You know, I keep telling myself over and over again that he's not capable of being that way. Somewhere inside of him is the Casval that I love as my brother. But now... now all I can see is the man they call Char Aznable, the damned 'Red Comet' of the One Year War." She gripped the guard rail tightly, an icy fury burning in her blood. "I thought I could never hate him, Amuro. But he's gone too far too many times. I... I can't sense my brother's soul inside of him now. He's not Casval anymore... and it sickens me."

"Sayla..." Amuro was startled at how cold she had become at mentioning Char. Sayla always held a sort of optimism and hope for her sibling's return from blind ambition. The woman in front of him gave off waves of contempt and hatred for Char, quite different from the Sayla he knew. In a way, it almost scared even him. He was startled by the alarm klaxon going off in the mobile suit hangar.

"Enemy mobile suits detected!" Lieutenant Morgan's voice called over the COM channels. "All mobile suit and mobile armor pilots should report to the hangar immediately! Repeat: all mobile suit and mobile armor pilots should report to the hangar immediately!"

Amuro grimaced, an uneasy but all-too familiar sensation building in his mind. It was as if some force was throwing space itself into chaos. He had felt it once before during the One Year War at the battle of Solomon. Now the feeling has returned to haunt him from a totally different source.

"You felt it, too?" Amuro asked as he and Sayla headed to the locker rooms to change into pilot suits.

"Whatever it was, it felt powerful." Sayla replied. "It was almost like something was reaching out and trying to consume everything with cold hatred." With that, the two separated and went to the separate change areas.

* * *

"How close are we to Frontier One?" Bright asked the person at the helm controls, his back tense and straight as the colony started to come into view. 

"We're at least another twenty minutes away at full speed, sir." The person, Ensign Markolis, replied as she brought up the Ra Calium's course on the main screen. Frontier One was originally known as part of Side 6, one of the few surviving colonies from the One Year War era. It was one of several that was reorganized after the Neo-Zeon conflict. Since then, it had survived both Operation: Daria by the Space Revolutionary Army as well as the Bloody Valentine incident one year earlier. The colony was home to millions of people who had hoped to escape the terrors of the war. Now it was in danger.

"Tell the mobile suit deck to stand by for launch." Bright instructed, his eyes beginning to see the familiar telltale flashes ahead of their ship. It was weapons fire from mobile suits.

* * *

Seebook Arno tried to keep as calm as possible, maneuvering the F-91 Gundam ahead in hopes of tracking down Korozo Ronah and ending this conflict for the Frontier colonies. The mobile suit was the end product of years of research and collaboration for the Strategic Naval Research Institute, the in-house mobile suit development division for the former Earth Federation. It incorporated several years of tested and proven technologies, such as a bio-computer for enhanced operating efficiency. Although it wasn't meant to be tested yet, the F-91 had fallen in Seebook's hands as a means of circumstance. 

He glanced over to the 360-degree panoramic viewer, seeing the XM-07 Vigna Ghina piloted by Cecily Fairchild on his left. She was a close friend to Seebook, her past filled with many unanswered questions about herself. She had recently escaped from her life as Berah Ronah, heir to the Cosmo Babylonia that her family believed was the future for spacenoids. In the end, their idealism were nothing but echoes of the creed followed by the Duchy of Zeon and by ZAFT. Her father, Korozo "Iron Mask" Ronah, was driven by his own quest for perfection and power to the point of madness. He was betraying everyone close to him and hiding his true intentions behind his mask, forcing Cecily to turn her back on him and his ideals. She was NOT Berah Ronah, not anymore. Seebook couldn't be more glad for her.

"A man who can't do anything without his mask says he'll change the world." Cecily told him over the open COM circuit, a coldness and sense of disgust in her normally sympathetic voice. She hated Iron Mask bitterly now, for polluting her grandfather's idealism with his own desires for power. Meitzer Ronah, like Zeon Zum Daikun and George Glenn, only had good intentions for spacenoids and the colonies. His concept for Cosmo Babylonia was a vision to unite the people under, not against Earth, but so they would stand on their own. Iron Mask was different, using those ideals to create his own twisted utopia under Meitzer's nose. Now after witnessing the horrific and systematic killing done of Frontier 1 by the mobile 'BUG' weapons, Cecily was sure of it.

"Agreed." Seebook replied. "Anyone with that much power and conviction is too dangerous. He has to be stopped, now." He glanced over to the right, seeing that most of the backup fleet from the moon had been obliterated, the familiar sickness of death and devestation plaguing his senses. Was this what it meant to be a Newtype? "I wish someone could just call this off."

"That's why we're here, remember? We have to be the ones to take him out."

Seebook shivered as a cold feeling raced through him, pressure building in his head as if something was trying to overwhelm his mind. It felt sinister but mechanical in nature, as if it came from a machine rather than a living thing. He looked up to see a light in the distance, the evil sensations growing stronger as they went closer. Whatever it was, it was the source of the feelings of malice he sensed.

* * *

"Are there still signs of battle?" Acting Captain Leahlee asked, the bridge of the Space Ark tense as they waited inside the the underbelly of a damaged colony. The ship was only intended as a training vessel, not meant for actual combat duty. Not only was it outmatched by both the Crossbone Vanguard as well as ZAFT, but heavily understaffed. At the moment, the only surviving crewmembers were several trainees and volunteers. 

"Yes, however, it seems to be slowing down somewhat." one of the officers reported. "We're still picking up the ID codes of the F-91 and Vigna Ghina."

"I see." Standing beside her was Doctor Monica Arno, Seebook's mother and one of the creators of the Gundam F-91. It was her help that transformed the Space Ark into a refugee ship so they wouldn't be fired upon by enemy forces. A tense look of worry over her son's well-being was written on her face, especially knowing that he was the one out there fighting with a weapon she helped to create. Leahlee understood the feeling, despite not having children of her own, and sympathized with her. However, there was also a sense of pride in Monica's face. She believed in her son and Cecily also, knowing that it was people like them who would bring about change.

"The performance rating of the F-91 and Vigna are well above average." Monica commented. She then started to blush with embarasment. "I'm sorry. It's probably just a mother's foolish pride, that's all."

"Not at all, Doctor Arno." Leahlee told the woman with a smile. "I've seen Seebook's performance and your absolutely right. He and the Gundam are definitely showing us the way... perhaps to a better future, I hope."

"Thank you, acting captain." Monica said with gratitude.

"Ma'am, we're getting a laser signal transmission from the Ra Calium." one of the officers, a young man named Cain, replied from the COM station.

"Bright Noah's ship?" Leahlee muttered, knowing fully the reputation of the former Earth Federation's finest battleship commander. He, along with the surviving alumni of the Pegasus-class cruiser White Base, were legends in their time. To have him getting in contact with their training ship was nothing short of an honor. "What does the transmission say?"

"They'll be here within the next eighteen minutes to render any aid necessary."

"Understood." Leylee returned her attention to the forward screens. "Until then, we'll just have to hope for the best."

* * *

"Here it comes!" Seebook suddenly shouted, using the F-91's thrusters to push him and Cecily out the way. They found themselves barraged by multiple shots from a source dead ahead, the beam shields of both mobile suits protecting their pilots for the moment. On impulse, Cecily forced the Vigna Ghina ahead, ignoring Seebook's warnings as she armed her beam rifles. 

"I know that it's him." Cecily said to herself. "Now I'll cut these family ties myself." Her eyes were filled with a cold hatred towards the man called Iron Mask, the same man who abandoned her and her mother, Nadia, for the sake of HIS version of Cosmo Babylonia. She never truly saw him as her father anymore, merely as a madman who had too much power to his name. She dodged beam shot after beam shot, the feelings of cruel intent pushing at her consciousness.

'Where is this coming from?' the red-haired young woman thougt to herself. She then saw it, a giant red mobile armor with tentacles stretched everywhere. It bore a faint resemblance to a flower, it's 'petals' studded with beam cannon ports. She thought it was another one of the 'BUG' mobile weapons but soon sensed the cold cruelty flashing from it. It was definitely not a 'BUG', but the XMA-01 Rafflesia. It was Iron Mask's mobile armor.

She fired shot after shot from her beam rilfles, the blows merely glancing off of the Rafflesia's armor. The Vigna Ghina was the most advanced weapon the Crossbone Vanguard had manufactured. Yet even it's high-powered beam rifles were nothing to that monstrosity.

"Cecily, get back!" Seebook shouted over the COM, firing at the mobile armor with the F-91's beam launcher. It also did nothing to stop or slow it down. He dodged left and right, trying desperately to avoid getting caught by the flailing tentacles of the Rafflesia. This was rapidly becoming an uphill battle, since the Gundam F-91 only had a certain amount of energy for it's beam weapons. He then noticed some wreakage from one of the colonies floating nearby. It had come from Heliopolis, one of the PLANTs destroyed several months ago in the war with ZAFT.

'At least it'll give us some cover.' Seebook thought as he manuvered the F-91 towards the ruins. He saw that the Vigna Ghina was backing towards it as well, pursued by the monstrous mobile armor as well. "Cecily, use the wreckage as a shield!" Seebook shouted over the COM.

"But you don't understand!" Cecily replied, using her beam shield to divert one of the tentacles away from her.

"Let me deal with this!" Seebook told his friend, firing at the Rafflesia to draw it's attention away from her. Seeing that it was noticing him, he kept firing the beam rifle as he lured it closer and closer to the colony ruins. This battle was beginning to turn ugly unless they got some help soon.

* * *

Cecily waited by the hulled remains of several buildings, seeing the terrible struggle the Gundam F-91 was having with the Rafflesia. She couldn't leave it to Seebook alone; the power of that mobile armor was too much for even the F-91 to handle. He would be killed unless things changed. Besides, she could sense Iron Mask's smug superiority behind the controls. She wanted to kill him personally, an act of personal vengeance for betraying her family with his cold ambitions. She armed both beam rifles and rocketed towards the Rafflesia, seeing that it was indeed Korozo "Iron Mask" Ronah at the controls. 

"Now I'll kill you myself!" Cecily shouted, throwing away one of the beam rifles and arming her beam saber. The tentacles came at her, slicing off one of her thruster nozzles, Cecily tried to ward them but succeeded in having the Vigna Ghina's left hand and part of the main camera sliced off. She noticed that Seebook sliced at some of the tentacles as he manuvered in front of her, protecting her damaged mobile suit as the Rafflesia loomed before them...

* * *

"Gillet!" Zabine Chareaux called over the COM circuit of his mobile suit, the XM-05 Berga Ghiros. It was designed as a command unit for the Crossbone Vanguard's mobile suit teams, intended only for use by veteran and proven combat pilots. Zabine used it as his personal unit in this battle, knowing it was a superbly designed mobile suit and perfect for an assault. 

"I saw that thing leave from the Zarmouth Gar." Zabine continued. "What do you know about it?"

"It's not my concern." Gillet, the present commander of the Crossbone Vanguard flagship Zarmouth Gar, responded cooly. He was a blind idiot, willing to obey only Iron Mask's orders instead of thinking logically. Zabine was incredibly digusted with the attitude.

"Is this how Iron Mask operates?" Zabine questioned to himself. He then switched the COM circuit open again. "Meet me at the portside airlock. I want to have a few words with you." He put on his pilot's suit helmet and decompressed the cockpit, taking his sidearm with him. He was sick and tired of those like Iron Mask who let their own ambitions replace the common goal. Whatever that weapon was that left the ship, it was something that Meitzer never knew about and would never have approved.

He opened the hatch and saw Gillet standing at the airlock in a normal suit. Zabine wanted answers and he wanted them now.

"I want to know what that thing was, Gillet." Zabine told him as he floated towards the airlock. "Why did Iron Mask have it stowed onboard this ship?"

"I told you, it's not my concern. A decision like that can't be made of my own authority."

"Just remember that those who operate directly under Iron Mask aren't the only ones who can act as they see fit." Zabine calmly pointed his weapon at the faceplate of Gillet's normal suit, ignoring the look of fear in the man's face as he fired. It shattered, spilling glass and compressed air into space as he floated away. "As for the Rafflesia, if I didn't know about it then neither did Meitzer." Zabine floated back to his mobile suit, already forming a plan to deal with Iron Mask later. As he closed the hatch, he manuvered the Berga Ghiros upward towards the Zarmouth Gar's bridge deck.

"The Zarmouth Gar is to remain here until Iron Mask returns." Zabine instructed over the COM circuit. "Understood?"

"Yes sir." came the reply. With that, he signaled the the two XM-01 Denan Zon mobile suits with him to follow him. He wasn't going to have the Crossbone forces polluted by faulty idealism, not when he was so close to fulfilling his own goals.

* * *

Cecily forced the Vigna Ghina to dodge left and right, trying desperately to avoid the tentacles that seemed to be everywhere. She used her remaining beam saber to slice at them, one of them wrapping around and slicing off her mobile suit's leg. Again and again she sliced at the tentacles, determined to reach the Rafflesia's cockpit and end Iron Mask's life. 

"You're too close, Cecily!" Seebook warned over the COM circuit, the Gundam F-91 also keeping the tentacles at bay with it's weapons.

"What was made by man can be destroyed by man!" Cecily said to herself, ignoring Seebook's warning as she came closer and closer to the heart of the giant mobile armor. She was too close to destroying Iron Mask to back off now. Suddenly, several tentacles snaked around her mobile suit, whipping her around and yanking her to the top of the Rafflesia. Cecily felt the familiar sinister taste of an evil presense in her mind as she looked on her monitors. Looking up at her was Iron Mask, his body language cool and composed with an air of superiority.

"Since you want to be close, let's have it this way." Iron Mask seemed to say. Though he was indeed talking to her, the psycommu drivers in the Rafflesia's computer interface amplified his thoughts. His voice boomed in her mind, chilling Cecily to the core. "You've been very naughty, Berah. Children should never suspect the actions of adults."

"I'm not a child anymore," Cecily retorted angrily, "and I'm NOT Berah Ronah anymore! You're just going against Grandfather because he transformed you into an Artificial Newtype! If you can still feel anything in that cold thing you call a heart, you'll stop this!"

"I had to destroy nine-tenths of humankind to bring about Cosmo Babylonia, so I HAD to change!" Iron Mask told her.

"That's stupid, you damn machine!" Cecily shouted, a wave of rage coursing through her at how cold and calculating Iron Mask was being. How dare he excuse what he was doing?

* * *

Seebook fought against more of the tentacles, seeing that most of them were wrapped around the Vigna Ghina, slowly beginning to squeeze the disabled mobile suit. Something snapped in his mind, telling him that he had to save her. He lost so much in the last few battles. He couldn't lose Cecily now. 

"CECILY!"

He could feel an indescribable force rushing through him, light coming from every system in the F-91's cockpit. It poured through his mind, expanding his consciousness until it nearly overwhelmed his senses. He could sense everything at once and knew why. He pressed on further, not noticing that the bio-computer in the F-91 had begun to overheat, forcing the mobile suit to eject cooling fins from it's shoulder pads.

* * *

The Rafflesia's tentacles squeezed harder and harder into the Vigna Ghina, slicing into it's armor every so often. Cecily saw that the cockpit door had been sliced off, letting her see the mobile armor up close as well as the imposing visage of Iron Mask in his cockpit. An intense fear ran through her blood, nearly making her recoil. 

"I'm not a machine, Berah." Iron Mask told her, his voice seeming to come from everywhere at once. "My ego was merely allowed to expand to let me fulfill my duties."

Cecily tried desperately to engage the ejection system, the sensation of terror growing stronger and stronger as the monitors in the Vigna Ghina finally failed. Surges of electricity flared back and forth through the damaged controls, finally silenced when a tentacle cut into the cockpit. She screamed, feeling how close she came to it's sharp edges piercing her pilot's suit and her body.

Iron Mask laughed at her cruelly, somehow enjoying the sharp feeling akin to fear and frustration coming from Cecily's mind. The power to invoke fear was intoxicating, no doubt a side effect to being an Artificial Newtype. He wanted to savor the feeling, let it consume his already-expanded ego.

"Frightened, are we?" Iron Mask asked sarcastically, opening the cockpit of the Rafflesia as he floated towards the runied remains of the Vigna Ghina. His helmet, which could also double as a breathing apparatus in space, was connected by fiber optic cables to the Rafflesia's controls. He could still command the mobile armor no matter how far away he drifted. As he touched the mobile suit, Iron Mask began ripping open the emergency hatch with his bare hands.

"I'm also capable of brainwave projection and control." Iron Mask said calmly as he ripped open the hatch, Cecily grabbing her sidearm from beside her. She fired in an attempt to kill the person standing before. This was no longer Korozo Ronah. This was some kind of horrific Newtype-enhanced demon, the true 'Iron Mask' of the Crossbone Vanguard.

"No!" Cecily screamed as Iron Mask grabbed her arm, yanking her out and forcing her to face him. She saw that his eyes glowed in an unholy fashion, even behind his mask. He was enjoying his power, languishing over the control he had over his own daughter. She could feel the dark sensations from his mind, insane visages of destruction that HE called Cosmo Babylonia.

"I can operate machines without using my hands or feet." Iron Mask continued, starting to grin coldly and sadistically behind his mask. "Yet you still look down on me, just as Nadia did." He brought her closer to his face, seeing the naked horror in Cecily's eyes and enjoying it. "Women have always been so hard to manage. Why is that?"

"All of that is your fault since you won't take off that mask!" Cecily said defiantly.

"I won't hear anymore of that!" Iron Mask commanded, feeling more and more godlike from the power over the Rafflesia. Cecily still felt terrified, her mind being tortured from the inside by the visions coming from Iron Mask, but unwilling to let him have control over her thinking. This man was insane, desperate to bring about his order through whatever means at his disposal. He'd even use his own daughter as a sacrificial lamb.

'Seebook... help!' Cecily cried out in her mind, seeing the F-91 fighting off the tentacles above them. She prayed that whomever was out there would let her friend hear her pleas.

* * *

"Huh?" Seebook looked on the monitors, seeing Cecily being held by Iron Mask on the Rafflesia. Anger poured through his mind, letting his consciousness fill the F-91. The mobile suit began moving faster as it's optic sensors glowed a bright blue, it's faceplate opening briefly to cool the rapidly-overheating bio-computer. Afterimages followed in it's wake, drawing the tentacles away from the Gundam as he came closer and closer. 

"How many of them are there?" Iron Mask muttered, seeing the Gundam and it's afterimages moving towards the Rafflesia. He let Cecily go as he moved back towards the open cockpit, ignoring her screams as she began to float away.

"Cecily!" Seebook shouted, suddenly enraged at Iron Mask as he sensed his friend's mind. He truly was a wicked person, driven by his own damned ambitions to the point of madness. Again and again, he sliced though the tentacles surrounding him as they went after the F-91's afterimages. Iron Mask was shocked to see that the mobile suit was escaping the Rafflesia's weapons.

"He's a fast one." Iron Mask mused. "Could he be a Newtype?"

The F-91 moved faster and faster, slicing through the tentacles with it's beam saber with an almost-unnatural speed. Seebook quickly glanced at the digital readout on a nearby console, seeing that his mobile suit was starting to run out of power. He had to end this fast so he could go back for Cecily.

"Now die!" Seebook shouted as he pulled out his beam launcher, the strongest weapon in the F-91's arsenal, and aimed it directly at the cockpit. Iron Mask seemed to glare at him from behind his mask, refusing to concede defeat even in the last moments. Seebook pressed the trigger as he moved backwards, letting the tentacles chase the F-91's afterimages towards the cockpit. The last thing he saw was the Rafflesia being engulfed by it's own weapons fire and the destruction of the cockpit.

'I did it... Cecily...' Seebook thought as he fought to keep himself conscious, the urge to pass out too great. He couldn't risk giving up now, not when he still had to find Cecily. He checked and rechecked over the biosensors, hoping to see something that told him she was still out there and not some lifeless corpse. When the scans were negative, Seebook cursed in frustration and pounded on the controls.

Suddenly, he sensed a faint impression in his mind from nearby. It felt familiar and pleasant, almost like a gentle caress of a woman. It had to be Cecily.

'Hang on, Cecily...' Seebook thought as he attached a thruster pack to his pilot suit, opening the outer hatch of the F-91. He jumped out of the mobile suit, letting him see the condition it was in from the battle with the Rafflesia. It's leg was missing, most likely because of the tentacles, and so was it's right arm. Otherwise, it seemed to be in good shape. The Gundam F-91 floated silently as the last of it's reserves gave out, it's blue optics darkening as it's master went further away from it. It too was exhausted, desiring the abyss of sleep if only for a little while.

'Thank you.' Seebook muttered, letting the impression he sensed guide him to his destination. Tiny spurts of compressed gas spewed from the thruster pack, bringing Seebook closer and closer to what he hoped was his friend. Then his heart leapt as he saw her, floating unconscious against the moon's backdrop.

"Cecily!" Seebook cried out over the COM of his pilot suit, his own energy expended but still holding on. He was too close to lose her now. Letting the inertia bring him closer, he finally grabbed Cecily's body and held her to his own, finally letting tears fall from his eyes as he cried in relief. He could feel Cecily stir as he began to close his own eyes, the last of his own energy giving out in exhaustion.

"...Seebook..." he heard her mutter softly as her hand went to his helmet, cradling it's side gently. The two teens never noticed the distant form of the Gundam F-91 floating behind them...


	6. Part 5

(Part 5) 

Camille drove as fast as possible, trying to see if he could find somewhere that he could take Emma for help. He still found it hard to believe that this could really be his friend and fellow pilot somehow back from the dead. There had to be more to it than sheer coincidence alone. He could still remember the final moment he had spent with her, watching helplessly as she died in his arms. He felt her spirit enter the cold expanse of space, his Newtype strength channeling it into the Zeta Gundam's final attack on Scirocco's mobile suit. For her to be the woman that was with him now was impossible. Yet he felt that it was her. Something TOLD him it was her, despite being robbed of his Newtype powers. He had to trust that feeling, since it may be all he had left.

Emma glanced towards Camille, seeing him pondering as he drove the stolen hovercar. She understood his confusion if not all of the reasoning behind it. Her last memory of him was looking up at his tear-filled face, feeling as if her entire body was giving out from the pain of her injuries. She saw a bright light and then... she found herself in a hospital on one of the new PLANT colonies, Junius 7. She later learned what had happened in her absense and went to Earth, eventually re-enlisting with the Earth Alliance as a special forces agent.

Her first assignment led her to investigate the activities of Blue Cosmos, terrorist action that the Atlantic Federation as well as OMNI were ignoring for an odd reason. Emma discovered that a black list was being kept of potential Coordinators and Newtypes on Earth as well as the moon, people that they considered dangerous and a potential threat. She had tried to tell her superiors what she had learned but was dismissed has having unofficial evidence. Bitter and angry for the second time in her life at the military, she left that life to seek out the only other one of her alumni that was still alive but on the list. Camille Bidan.

"We should probably get you some medical attention when we get there." Camille said, noting that blood was starting to seep through Emma's makeshift bandage and staining it a bright crimson. "That wound's starting to get nasty."

"Don't worry... about that." Emma replied, keeping her breathing stable as she straightened herself in the passenger seat. Truthfully, she knew Camille was right but couldn't take the risk. If she was taken to be treated, her superiors would track her down and eliminate them both for knowing what she does. Suddenly, her attention was drawn to the sky where she could see an aerial battle between mobile suits. One was the GAT-01 Strike Daggar, a newer model created by the Earth Alliance in an ironic tribute to the RGM-79 GM, and a mobile suit she didn't recognize. A few stray shots were headed towards them, forcing Emma to take the steering controls to avoid the weapons fire.

"What the..." Camille said in surprise as the hovercar veered to the right, barely dodging the stray beam shots as it careened through a fence and ejected it's passengers to the ground. Camille got to his feet and raced towards Emma, who was struggling to her feet. As he helped her up, he glanced skyward to see the two mobile suits still fighting each other violently.

"Damn military." Camille cursed as he helped his brown-haired friend to her feet. "When are they going to learn that things are more delicate in space than on Earth?" He looked around to see where they had been thrown, almost cursing at the irony. They had indeed come to a spaceport but it had been long since abandoned, most of it in a dilapidated state. At one time, it was once serving as a former testing ground for new technologies by the former Earth Federation, where mobile suits and weapons were developed under the top secret "MSV Project". It was that research that later went into building the RX-178 Gundam Mark II and was mishandled by the Titans. Now, it had been consigned to history in an undignified way.

"Looks like this place was abandoned a long time ago." Camille noted. He then saw that Emma was fighting back tears in her eyes, the pain from her wound probably akin to hot daggars being stabbed into her leg.

"There should... be some equipment... in the hangar." Emma tried to say. "We can use it..." She then started to drop to the ground, unable to walk or even stand anymore. Camille caught her, holding her up as he forced her to look at him.

"Don't start giving up on me now, Emma." Camille told her. "You have to hold on a little bit longer... please."

Emma almost smiled at the sentiment the blue-haired young man was giving, knowing it was a part of his character she respected. He always thought with his heart and not his head, a habit that followed him into unlocking his abilities as a Newtype. She nodded, letting Camille lead her towards the dormant hangar ahead of them. It was surprisingly in good condition, most of the metallic skin of the walls free of holes or defects from age. The air was much cooler, as if it was used to store sensitive equipment rather than military surplus over the years. Camille fumbled around on the wall closest to the doorway until he found a lightswitch, gasping as they saw what remained in the hangar. It was another ghost from his past, something he thought was long since gone.

"Zeta Gundam?" Camille said to himself. "It's... but how?" He had remembered hearing rumors that the AEUG and Earth Federation had wanted to mass-produce his mobile suit design, refine it's technologies further and use it in the wars that would come later. This one looked almost identical to the original except for the paint, which was midnight black and blue rather than the traditional colors. He wondered if this was one of the mass-production models or a test prototype. If so, why was it abandoned in an old hangar in the middle of nowhere? There were too many questions lately and not enough answers.

"So they DID build it." he heard Emma mutter, her breathing starting to become shallow as she struggled to remain conscious. "The MSZ-006-S01. Zeta Gundam S01."

"What is it, Emma?" Camille asked as he gently set her down onto the cold concrete, starting to become nervous and scared as he held the brown-haired female in his arms. "How do you know about what it is?"

"It's a... a long story, Camille." Emma tried to say, her mind already dizzy from both the pain and vertigo that threatened to take her into unconsciousness. She fought to stay awake, knowing the results if she passed out. She had to make sure that Camille knew what was happening so he would be able to trust her. Unless he did, he'd never be out of harm's way ever again, the corruption and bloodshed of those in power eventually swallowing the entire solar system.

Camille's heart began pounding rapidly, the scene before him almost a mirror image of the last time he had held her like this. She had died then, her soul along with many others aiding to destroy the evil that was Scirocco. He couldn't...

...NO!

He WOULDN'T let her die this time!

"I'm not letting you die here, Emma." Camille told her, hoping that she could still hear him against the sense of vertigo that threatened to take her away into the abyss. He picked her up and carried her to the Zeta Gundam S01, knowing that it was the only chance that the two of them had to escape Von Braum City alive...

* * *

The bridge of the Freeden was thick with tension as Jamil arrived, seeing the battle taking place withi the spaceport where their ship was moored. Most of the mobile suits belonged to the Crossbone Vanguard, whose advance fleets were busy in orbit at the moment, while the majority of the other models belonged to both the former Earth Federation. The RGM-110 Heavyguns and RGM-89K Jegan Kai mobile suits were heavily outnumbered and outclassed by the newer designs of the Crossbone forces, so much that any chance of their victory was extremely shortsighted. Any experienced commander would have seen that it was a hopeless battle. 

Sala Tyrell glanced over to the silent man as she remained in the command chair, his body language saying that he wanted to observe rather than command right now. She was one of the few from their days on Earth as Vultures, people who salvaged obsolete mobile suits or parts and sometimes sold them, who chose to remain on the ship. In the twilight between the end of the Earth Federation and the emergence of the Earth Alliance, it was a commonplace way of life for the survivors of the colony drops. Thought diverse groups such as the Junk Guild now filled that role rather well, part of her did miss that life. Yet her existence as a soldier here satisfied her more now. Sala didn't have any regrets whatsoever.

Yet her captain and sometimes friend felt differently. That much was all that she could tell about him.

"Garrod hasn't launched yet, has he?" Jamil said to her, his attention still drawn to the battlefield outside.

"He's about to head out now." Sala told him. "Kid commented that the Gundam Double-X was upgraded recently while we were being resupplied. It doesn't have the twin satellite cannons anymore but it's still formidable enough."

"It will be." Jamil noted, the cryptic tone in his voice puzzling his first officer. His abilities as a Newtype were gone but, because of their encounter with the entity called D.O.M.E. one year ago, he trusted Garrod's abilites in combat via intuition. He had gotten to understand the young man's ceaseless faith in the world around them, staying eternally optimistic in the bleakest of scenarios. Jamil had to admire that devotion to his convictions, part of him wishing that he could also believe in blind optimism the same way. It was something that he had lost years ago along with his Newtype abilites.

"The Gundam Double-X is launching." one of the newest bridge officers, Ensign Asuma Uzuki, called from the COM/relay station. Most of the Freeden's core people such as Witz Sou, Roybea Loy, Paula Cis, Toynia Malme, and Ennil El had moved on with their lives and even started families by now. Jamil couldn't have expected them to come back like it was old times. Still, part of him missed the little family they had become over the years.

'Good luck, Garrod.' Jamil said mentally, thiking that maybe the young pilot might've heard his thoughts.

* * *

Garrod manuvered the Gundam Double-X through the battlefield, unleashing his hyper beam sword as he prepared to attack the enemy mobile suits. It had gone through several changes since he last used it against the Frost Brothers one year before. The framework was now equipped with the new N-Jammer Canceller, letting it operate as freely as before. Another side effect was the missing twin satellite cannons, ruined during the mobile suit's last battle with the Frost Brothers. Kid Salsamille, the mobile suit mechanic and resident 'miracle worker' of the Freeden, had recovered them and compressed it into a twin-barreled mega particle rifle. It was now the most powerful weapon on either side of the moon's forces. 

"Shit!" Garrod cursed to himself as he saw the condition that his allies were in, most of the mobile suits heavily disabled. "Looks like it's pretty ugly already." He brought his beam sword down on some XM-01 De'nan Zon mobile suits as they came at him, slicing through their armor easily. He moved in closer, again and again slicing through the black mobile suits with ease. Beam shots from several places bombarded him but was reflected off of the mobile suit's armor, still lunar titanuim rather than the current Phase Shift armor.

"Piece of cake!" Garrod smiled to himself, ignoring that perhaps the battle was going too well. Suddenly, his sensors flared up as he noticed them, several mobile suits he had never seen before or even heard about. It was the one of the new ZAFT models, a high-performance mobile suit called GuAIZ. They were heading away from the battlefield, towards something else heading their way that he couldn't make out.

"Oh no, you don't!" Garrod said as he forced the Gundam Double-X after the unknown mobile suits. "You started this fight and now you're going to finish it!" He started to arm the mega particle rifle. He then decided not to, remembering how strong the satellite cannons were and knowing that was overkill. It didn't matter, since he knew the Double-X had more than enough to take them out. His sensors then scanned what it was the enemy was heading after and his eyes widened in amazement.

"A Zeta Gundam? Here? What the hell do they want with an antique like that?"

* * *

Camille checked over the COM system, trying again to hail any friendly ships that were nearby. Against Emma's advice, ignoring it and dismissing her as being delirious, he had taken the Zeta Gundam S01 into the skies. It felt nostalgic being at the controls of this mobile suit again, almost like reliving a piece of his childhood again. But it also resurrected bad memories as well, such as the death of Four Murasame because of it. 

He turned briefly to Emma, who was unconscious and starting to shiver slightly. He had found some antibiotics in the mobile suit's supply kit but it was heavily limited, delaying the inevitable at least for a little while. He knew that there was no time for nostalgia now. His friend's life depended on the next few minutes.

"What the...?" Camille blurted as he saw several GuAIZ mobile suits heading towards them. They matched the unknown mobile suit that was fighting with the Strike Daggar earlier. He had finally had enough. Before he could fire the main weapons, a beam shot through one of the enemy mobile suits, obliterating it before his eyes. He checked the ID code quickly, a surge of relief moving through him when he saw that it matched the GX-9901-DX Gundam Double X he had heard about.

"You okay?" he heard the voice of the pilot, Garrod Ran, ask him over the COM channel.

"Yeah, I owe you for that." Camille replied. "Listen, I've got someone wounded in here with me. Do you have a ship nearby?"

"Sure. If you want, I can escort you to them." Garrod was about to open the COM circuit to the Freeden when the remaining GuAIZ mobile suits started towards them. He whipped out his hyper beam sword and prepared to attack when he saw the Zeta Gundam S01 start to move in front of him.

"Like I said, I owe you for helping us out." Camille told the young man over the COM. "Besides, I'm paying these guys back!"

"You said you have someone wounded with you, right?" Garrod asked him. "So take care of your friend first. My ship's about two minutes away from here. "I'll cover you so you can get some help."

"...Thanks." Camille told the young man, letting the Gundam Double-X move alongside him. He had to admit, it was definitely an impressive-looking mobile suit. "By the way, my name's Camille Bidan."

"Mine's Garrod." With that, the Double-X flew straight ahead into the squadron of ZAFT mobile suits, the Zeta Gundam S01 following behind as the two headed for the Freeden's position. Camile flew as steadily as he could, letting Garrod fight his way through the GuAIZ so he could care for his friend. He felt grateful but cheated at the same time. He wanted to pay them back not just for hurting his friend but for causing this needless violence, and in a NEUTRAL lunar city as well!

"...Camille..." he heard Emma stir, her eyes looking glazed over and glassy. The antibiotics weren't working anymore. She needed help now.

"Just a little longer, Emma." Camille said to her, seeing that the last of the GuAIZ had finally been wiped out. Garrod flew closer to them as he pointed down below.

"That's my ship down there." Garrod told them. "I already let them know we're bringing you guys in." With that, the two mobile suits headed down to the Freeden's fight deck. The battle was over, at least for a little while.


	7. Part 6

(Part 6 ) 

Uzumi Attha's brow furrowed as he turned off the television in his office, sickened at the lack of concern the Earth Alliance had for the situation involving the neutral nations. Lately, it seemed that more and more of their decision regarding the war were complacent, oblivious to the brave men and women who put their lives on their lives every day for their various nations. They were only too happy to let the war continue until both sides wiped themselves out. He was determined not to let Orb become a warzone because of a few empowered fools who could care less.

The Orb Kingdom was a fully sovereign nation, existing in the mass of neutral nations that scattered themselves across the globe. They were one of the few who was holding their own against pressure from the Earth Alliance and ZAFT to take sides in the conflict. Yet he knew it was only a matter of time. Like the fascist Titans of the Earth Federation, the Atlantic Federation was becoming corrupted with it's own strength and would soon collapse under it's own weight. It was only a matter of when and not how.

"As you can see, the situation has become more severe for us." Uzumi addressed to the assembly of young men and women in his office. "Several other nations have given in to outside pressure and internal corruption already. The Atlantic Federation has also sent us an ultimatum as well. Unless we choose to ally ourselves with them in this conflict, they will consider us ZAFT supporters and begin systematic attacks on our borders."

"Didn't you tell them that since we're a sovereign nation, we don't have to side with either?" Cagalli asked her father. She and Kira were asked to come along with Captain Murrue Ramias, Lieutenant Mwu La Flagga, and Kisaka to hear Uzumi's decisions. To hear that the Earth Alliance military would blatantly disregard their status just to have more power than the enemy...

"I've already tried contacting the Supreme Council to plead our case but it was no use." Uzumi replied. "At any rate, there's only one reason that they've put more pressure on us rather than on anyone else."

"The Astray units." Kisaka concluded.

"Correct." The MBF-01 Astray Gundam mobile suits were the basis of Orb's military, the only mobile weapons that could protect the kingdom. The design was based on three lost prototypes, nicknamed 'Frames' because of their colors, and the OS was derived from Kira's work on the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam. He modified it at Morgenrate with the help of Erica Simmons, one of the principal designers of the Strike Gundam, and installed it into three of the mass-production units. Since then, the design had seen much success.

"Despite now having mobile suits of their own, their lust for power is insatiable." Uzumi continued. "Anyone that might have the means to tip power into their favor would be at a risk."

"But at what cost?" Murrue asked. "They're willing to throw away the lives of their own citizens, their own people, just to gain a strategic advantage?"

"And the mass driver located in Kaguya, but I'm afraid it far worse that that alone. You see, anti-Coordinator sentiment has grown in the last few months since the war began. The public has gained a sense of xenophobia and mass hysteria based on media propaganda." He then turned to Kira and Cagalli. "For anyone who is a Coordinator, I'm afraid that Earth is no longer safe for any of them."

"So what is your decision then, Lord Uzumi?" Kira finally asked, having been deeply immersed in thought. "How will you make sure that Orb isn't dragged down with the Earth Alliance or ZAFT?"

"By teaching those who've been pulled down by Earth's gravity that stupidity and weapons of war make strange bedfellows." The voice belonged to a mysterious man standing in the rear of the room, a feel of hidden strength in his body language. His blond hair was combed neatly while his ocean-blue eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses, the red business suit giving him the appearance of a man of great authority. Whomever he was, he seemed immensely powerful or had been once.

"Ah, I almost forgot to mention." Uzumi told the mysterious man as he took a seat away from the windows. "This is Edward Mass, one of our representatives to the Supreme Council on this matter. He's one of the few remaining that is still willing to listen."

"Unlike those in power right now, I understand what's been happening during this war along with Lord Uzumi." the man named Edward Mass explained. "It's a story that hasn't ended since the days of the One Year War. Sadly, it seems that the lessons of those days have long been forgotten." He looked at the small group until his eyes settled on Kira, a feeling of nostalgia coming over him. "A part of human nature is to fear the unknown. Yet the war has taken this to an extreme. That's what we're hoping to change."

"Perhaps, but the only way for that to happen is if there was an understanding of the unknown." Kira commented. "No one can really claim that they even understand why they're fighting and for what reason."

"Sadly, that is the nature of conflict in human history." Uzumi said. "However, the day is coming when we won't be able to beat our swords into plowshares any longer. I pray that when you all decide what to fight for, you may even question why you wear the uniform you wear."

Cagalli noticed that Kira seemed satisfied with that answer, as if it had confirmed a thought he was already addressing. He had changed since his final battle with the Strike against Athrun, seeming much more mature about the war and the world around him. She hoped that she would eventually find her own reasons as well. With that, the two left the room along with the others. The only exception was the man named Edward Mass, who stayed behind with Uzumi.

"Kira, did you notice something about that guy?" Cagalli asked her friend.

"Yeah." Kira commented. "He looked familiar, almost like..." He shook his head knowing it was impossible. The person he was thinking about died several years before. He couldn't be the same as the man they saw... could he?

* * *

The man named Edward Mass relaxed into the chair as he and Uzumi sat down, going over the vague impression that the boy named Kira had given him. He had an abundance in raw potential, that much he could tell, and had a familiar yet intangible aura around him. Yes, he would be vital if everything goes as it should.

Many years ago, he had been under the name of Char Aznable, the so-called "Red Comet" that the Zeon praised and the Earth Federation feared. Since the Battle of Loum in UC 0079, he had gone unmatched in sheer talent and finesse on the battle front. That is, until encountering a white mobile suit named Gundam and a pilot named Amuro Ray. Throughout the entire One Year War, the two were destined to battle each other in attempts to outdo each other. Time after time again, both would be in dead stalemate. It was only broken when the young life of Lalah Sune, a Newtype protege Char had taken under his wing, became caught in their desperate struggle.

Lalah was a beautiful young Newtype, one of the earliest documented during those times. She had an immense amount of power yet was almost overwhelmed at Amuro's own power, seeing him as a sort of kindred spirit. Eventually, she had fallen in love with both of them and was taken from the world by a horrific accident of fate.

Char had grown obsessed with avenging her death, since having also fallen in love with Lalah during his time with her. He blamed Amuro for it and forged a long-heated rivalry with the ace Gundam pilot. Over the years, with the sole exception of the Gryps conflict in UC 0087, the two would constantly wage a private war with ideals and a physical one with mobile suits. It finally reached it's peak in UC 0093, when both of them had been pulled into Earth's gravity by the fall of Axis.

He had survived the encounter yet again, still feeling that Amuro was also still alive somewhere. Unlike the legendary ace, he hadn't lost his abilities as a Newtype and could still sense him. He later changed his identity to his old alias as Sayla's brother, Edward Mass, and went into seclusion. He only recently learned of the newly-formed Earth Alliance's corrupted goals, using a series of limited contacts to begin talking to several members of the Supreme Council. He understood Orb's refusal to become involved directly, admiring Uzumi's stance and began helping them as a representative.

"I see the rumors are true, Lord Uzumi." Char, known as Edward at the moment, told the Orb leader. "You intend to fight the Earth Alliance."

"There may not be another choice in the matter." Uzumi said. "They are so blinded by their own need for dominance within the Earth sphere that they'll create enemies needlessly. It is the worst case of power corrupting..."

"...and absolute power corrupting absolutely." Edward finished. "Yes, I can see much of that in ZAFT also. Patrick Zala intends on fully recreating those lost ideals and dominate space as well."

"I see..." Uzumi stared at Edward, already knowing fully whose eyes were behind those dark sunglasses. "You should know that he's returned. Amuro Ray."

"I know." Edward noted, his tone serious now at the mention of his sworn rival. "I heard the rumor recently several weeks ago. Apparently, he's returned and is aiding Londo Bell in space. However, my primary concern is just how much damage his return will do." He leaned over in deep reflection, mentally going over the course of action everything will take. "Right now, both Earth and space is a different domain than he remembers. He can't turn back the clock to the One Year War and expect to win. Unless he knows that, he and his allies will be consumed by space."

"I see." Uzumi noted, equally deep in thought. "So you still cling to your beliefs, after all these years, that the souls of humanity are being pulled down by Earth's gravity."

"How else would you explain the constant state of pollution that Earth governments have had in the last twenty years alone, Lord Uzumi?" Edward told him. "The Earth is becoming nothing short of a black hole for mankind. Amuro's soul was already pulled down when the colonies dropped and killed his wife. I only know this because I've kept track of him over the years. If it can destroy his soul, then it will happen again."

"You speak as though you know personally." Uzumi then rose, facing Edward with a calculating look in his eyes. "Exactly who are you, Edward Mass?"

"Just someone who has no wish to see history repeat itself, sir." With that, Edward rose also and headed toward the door. "I would also advise you to pay special attention to Kira. He's important enough that someone like him could change this war."

"I know, since he and my daughter have already become close." Uzumi said as Edward left the room. He then took out a photograph from his pocket, a sense of remorse over the contents. "But I wonder sometimes if that young man could really be the one..."

It was a picture of a brown-haired woman holding two infants, one blond-haired and one brown-haired. The back was labeled:

CAGALLI X 'KIRA'

September 0056 CE

* * *

Athrun could feel the heat on the ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam's frame as the red mobile suit flew through Earth's atmosphere. The Phase Shift armor on the mobile suit prevented it from being scorched, allowing it and its pilot to remain safe through the intense friction of re-entry speed. The last thing he wanted was for it to be damaged so soon, especially since he was one step closer to finding Kira and resolving this.

Lacus's words to him haunted him as Athrun returned to the ZAFT-controlled hangar that day, forcing him to come to a difficult conclusion. He was tired of the war, tired of the senseless massacre by those who didn't see the names attached to the bodies in the battlefield. He was NOT a harbinger of death, not now nor ever again. This conviction rested in his mind when he boarded the Justice Gundam, a hard look in his dark-green eyes.

'According to the last known reports, the Freedom Gundam could be heading for the Orb Kingdom.' Athrun thought to himself as the last of the re-entry turbulence faded away, letting the mobile suit steady its flight through the atmosphere. 'If that's the case, the Kira's probably already there by now...' He frowned at the memories of those distant battles he and Kira had fought against each other. The former Strike Gundam pilot had powerful convictions to fuel his resolve not to join with Athrun, to continue opposing the meaning of the war in the first place. Kira had already found something to fight for and even die for. Yet Athrun...

(What is it that you're fighting for now?)

'You were right, Lacus.' Athrun activated the FATHOM lifter backpack's thrusters, allowing it to carry the Justice Gundam to it's destination. 'I will have to find a new reason to fight this time.' The red mobile suit flew onward into the afternoon horizon, a silent scarlet sentinel against the azure-blue sky.

* * *

"So what should we do now?" Mwu asked as he and Murrue walked the corridor towards the Archangel's hangar, the uneasy silence between the two officers broken by the statement. "Where do we stand on getting involved?"

"Returning to the Earth Alliance is out of the question for now." Murrue told him, going over their options in her mind. "If we do, all of us will be executed not just based on what we know but for deserting. I won't subject the crew to that. However, after seeing what Uzumi showed us, I'm really beginning to doubt whether or not we should leave in the first place."

"I guess all of us have to find some reason to keep fighting." Mwu stated, suprising Murrue as he placed a hand on her shoulder. It fet comforting to her, knowing that there was someone she could still address her thoughts to since Natarle, her former first officer, was promoted to captain of her own battleship. She didn't move his hand away, instead letting the gesture help her make up her mind.

"The real question is just what were we fighting for before," Murrue told him, "and what are we fighting for now?"

"It seems like Kira's started to find his answers. Maybe we can do the same here."

A brief sense of realization crossed Murrue's mind as she thought of the young Coordinator. He constantly placed his life on the line for the Archangel and its crew, his only concern being their protection. Yet when he returned, he seemed like he was fighting for a larger reason than this alone. It almost seemed like he had moved beyond the same young man who wanted only to save his friends, instead gaining a newfound maturity.

"Have you heard the stories about people called Newtypes, Lieutenant?" Murrue asked the blond-haired pilot. "It was said that they had the capacity to do what people think Coordinators do today: see beyond the scope of war and destruction into a brighter vision for humanity. They also had brilliant talents as mobile weapons pilots and a strong sense of intuition. But after the Seventh Space War, the rumors faded when Coordinators became more prominent."

"So you're thinking that Kira's also a Newtype?"

"Maybe. If he is, perhaps the rumors are also true. Maybe the only way humanity will ever outgrow the need to kill one another is for everyone to become a Newtype." The two officers reached the doorway to the hangar, crossing the catwalk to the mobile suit deck. They saw Kira and Cagalli talking with Erica Simmons, the chief designer for the Astray Gundams as well as one of the main designers for the Strike Gundam.

"Captain, Lieutenant, I'm glad you could be here." Erica said as the two officers joined them. "We were just going over the improvements made to the Strike over the last few weeks."

"It's been repaired?" Murrue asked. "We thought it had been destroyed several weeks ago."

"That wasn't exactly the case, Captain. After your ship departed, we recovered the unit as well as the remaining components of the GAT-X333 Aegis as well. Though the Aegis was a complete loss, th data did help us develop some major system improvements as well as a new option pack as well." The small group boarded a lift next to the catwalk, letting them see the mobile suit's condition as it rested alongside the Freedom Gundam. It looked in the same condition as when it was discovered on Heliopolis months before. No signs of battle scarring existed at all.

"We simplified and improved the OS parameters as well." Erica continued. "Now anyone can pilot it, Coordinator or Natural, and utilize it's fullest potential."

"Then I volunteer." Cagalli said almost immediately, suprising the small group. She had wanted to pilot a mobile suit for a long time, despite being ridiculed by her peers many months before. Her skills had improved much since she made use of the Sky Grasper support fighters, letting her loog several hours of actual combat. She needed to do this, the desire to prove herself as well as help defend her homeland later burning strong.

"Sorry, Miss Attha, but that job goes to me." Mwu told her, Cagalli's disappointment showing in her eyes. "I'm still the senior pilot on this ship and have more experience than you or Kira in battle."

"Besides, we already thought of that." Erica told her, directing their attention to the eastern wall of the hangar. "With some help, we've built a new model based on the data from the MBF-P01 Astray Gundam prototype 'frames' as well as the recovered GAT-X333 Aegis. It's called MBF-P04 Astray Gundam, TL Frame type."

Cagalli studied the new mobile suit carefully, absorbing the lines and features of it's frame. The pink-colored armor was lighter-looking than the normal Astrays, the overall sleek appearance designed more for speed rather than firepower. The head was also different than the original prototypes, sporting the traditional V-shaped antennae design seen on the other Gundam designs. Other than those things, it seemed like a well-designed weapon.

"What does 'TL Frame' mean?" Cagalli asked, finally addressing the mobile suit designer.

"It stands for 'transformable linear' frame. It's capable of changing into a mobile armor since it's based on the Aegis's systems."

"I see..." Cagalli went to the prone mobile suit and smiled to herself. This was something she would be honored to pilot. She turned to the small group, seeing Kira smile at her also. It made her feel good to have his support, despite his earlier feelings on her joining them on the battlefield. The last thing he wanted was for her to end up being killed like Tolle. Now his attitude was different. He understood her need to defend her homeland, a worthwhile desire to have something to fight for. For now, it would be enough for both of them.


	8. Part 7

ï»¿(Part 7)

The Ra Calium slowly guided itself downward into Von Braun City's open airlock; the thrusters on the battleship keeping it steady throughout the routine maneuver. They had reached the Space Ark several minutes before, taking on most of the personnel while the training ship headed for Frontier Two for resupply and repairs. Among them were Seebook and Cecily, both having been treated in the ship's infirmary, as well as the damaged Gundam F-91 and ruined Vigna Ghina, which Astionage was practically obsessing over. After taking on its new burden, they had finally arrived at Von Braun to resupply and update it's forces.

Amuro made his way to the bridge, going over in his mind what he should say to Bright after all this time. The last time they saw each other was during the Neo-Zeon War, when he tried before to prevent Char from carrying out his goals. That one mistake planted the seeds of future conflicts, leading up to the current Earth Alliance war with ZAFT. If he had managed to kill him then, perhaps others wouldn't have been inspired to become him over the years. Perhaps then the ghosts of the past would've been finally allowed to rest.

He finally arrived at the bridge of the Ra Calium, seeing how much it had changed since he had last been onboard the ship. Bright turned around from his command chair, rising up to greet his comrade of the past twenty years.

"It's good to finally see you again, Amuro." Bright said with a smile on his face. "How've you been?"

"A lot changed for me, Bright, but I'm doing okay." Amuro replied as he noticed some of the newer equipment added to the bridge. "I heard about what happened to Hathaway a few years ago. I'm sorry about that."

"It's... thank you." Bright told him, his face suddenly shadowed with regret at the memories of his son. "I appreciate that." Hathaway Noah had fallen into a cultist group of Newtypes, still despondent over the death of Quess Paraya during the Neo-Zeon War. The group had changed him into something he wasn't, forcing him into the cockpit of the RX-105 Xi Gundam and fighting against the Earth Federal Forces. He eventually was killed in a battle with the Federation's prototype RX-104FF Penelope, Bright helpless to even save his only son. The pain never left him or Mirai, instead becoming duller with time but never truly abating. A natural feeling for any parent who had lost their firstborn child.

Seebook stood silently near the rear of the bridge while the two men talked. He had heard stories about the most famous Newtypes from the pre-Cosmic Era wars from the Space Ark's crew. Now he was standing in the presence of one of those legendary heroes. To say that he was speechless was an understatement.

"So you're Amuro Ray?" Seebook managed to finally say. "The one who defeated Char Aznable in both the One Year War and the Neo-Zeon war."

"I fought against him, if that's what you mean." Amuro replied, feeling uneasy at the sense of hero worship coming from the black-haired boy. He knew that some of the younger pilots looked up to him, Bright, and Sayla as near superhuman icons. That perception of him as something beyond human was uncomfortable to accept. He never wanted anyone to see that from him, not with the series of flaws that followed his career as well as his life.

"Seebook is the pilot of the SNRI's Gundam F-91." Bright explained. "From what Captain Leahlee told me, he has serious potential as both a pilot and as a Newtype." Ignoring Seebook's look of embarrassment, Bright continued in a lower tone of voice. "The feeling I get from him is a lot like you and Camille Bidan had, Amuro. If this keeps up..."

"So you want me to take him under my wing?" Amuro finished, knowing what Bright was going to ask him. "I don't know about that, Bright. I'm not exactly qualified to be anyone's mentor."

"I'm not asking that. I'm just asking that you help him learn from your own experiences." Bright placed a hand on Amuro's shoulder, a look of vague concern in his eyes. "At least give it some thought. He and most of his generation reveres you and everything we accomplished out here."

"And exactly what have we accomplished? I'm not a superman for people to look up to for hope." Amuro glanced back at Seebook, seeing the young man silently thinking to himself. The once-powerful Newtype did see a lot of himself in his green eyes, like staring back into a fractured mirror of himself from twenty years before. He couldn't deny that.

"On the other hand, it wouldn't be so bad helping him build upon his own experiences." With that, Amuro went over to Seebook, disturbing they young man from his thoughts. "Your name's Seebook, right?"

"Yeah."

"I heard about your battle with the Crossbone Vanguard earlier. I'm glad you'll be with us for a little while." He extended his hand, sensing Seebook's feelings of gratitude from the small compliment. The young Newtype then gripped it, the nervous feeling of being in his presence beginning to fade already.

"Thanks, I guess."

----------------

Cecily sat alone in the Ra Calium's chapel, feeling empty and isolated since leaving the ship's infirmary. She needed some small sense of comfort in the ensuing chaos that followed her, to feel something other than the remains of Iron Mask's thoughts in her mind. He had practically mind-raped her just to exercise his mental prowess, drawing the fears and resentment inside her mind to the surface and feeding on them as a leech would on blood. Even in death, the voice of that madman she once called her father still echoed within her mind. Coming here was a need to escape, to flee from those memories.

She felt tears begin to stream down her face as she clasped her hands, praying to anyone she hoped was listening that the inner turmoil and confusion would release her soon. She had betrayed her friends when she sided with the Crossbone Vanguard, almost believing she was the Berah Ronah they had wanted her to be. She had betrayed herself by cutting her long, orange-red hair to live with her grandfather's well-intentioned ideals. She then betrayed what was left of her family when Seebook came in the Gundam F-91, forcing them to fight and for her to choose. She never wanted her friends as enemies. That was what made her come back. She needed to feel like herself again, to understand what was right and wrong as she used to.

"I had a feeling I'd find you here." Cecily turned around, seeing Sayla Mass coming towards her wearing the same civilian clothing she wore on Earth. She had forsaken her duties as a doctor for the moment, since the ship still had an active medical staff, and learned about what they young woman had been though. She sympathized greatly, the memories of her own depression regarding her Zeon heritage returning to haunt her.

"May I sit down?" Sayla asked the young woman, seeing the intense lament Cecily was languishing over. The young woman's eyes were already becoming bloodshot from crying, the sensation of sorrow and guilt echoing from her in waves.

"I keep trying to rationalize what Seebook and I had done." Cecily said, once more looking down into her hands in reflection. "Iron Mask was insane, someone who wanted to play God and reshape the colonies as he saw fit. He would've done anything to accomplish that, even abandon his own humanity. But... but how can I still hate someone who is my own father so much?"

"You know, there was a woman who had gone through the same ordeal." Sayla told her, placing her arm across Cecily's shoulders in comfort. "During the One Year War, she had to cope with her own brother being on the side of the Republic of Zeon. She begged and pleaded for him to come back to her and be the family they were meant to be but he didn't listen. Eventually, he became consumed by war and let it destroy him. Since then, despite that he was still her brother, she began to hate the person he had become in the end." Sayla paused, her own tears beginning to run at the memories of her brother's obsession with avenging their family name.

"How do you know all of this, Miss Sayla?" Cecily asked as she looked at the older woman, seeing her fighting to keep bad memories from enveloping her once more. "Who was the woman you were talking about?"

"Her name was Artesia," Sayla told her as she removed her arm, "someone I used to know a long time ago. My point is that you shouldn't destroy yourself over things you couldn't change. Yes, Iron Mask was still your father but he was also someone who needed to be stopped from killing innocent people. Perhaps ending his life was the only way."

"That doesn't mean it was the right choice!"

"No one's saying that it was. In a war, you have to make hard choices when innocent lives are at stake, even when the enemy is someone you care about or your own family."

Cecily saw a hard look come into Sayla's ocean-blue eyes, one of resolve and regret at the same time. She wondered what had darkened this woman's past to the point when she needed to cross that line. She also prayed that she would never have to do it for herself again. She clasped the older woman's hand and smiled lightly in gratitude.

"Thank you, Miss Sayla. I still need to think but... I'm starting to understand."

"In that case, I'll let you be alone then." With that, Sayla rose from the bench and walked out of the chapel, leaving Cecily behind to decide for herself whether or not she would let the line between right and wrong blur in the face of war.

---------------

"Was it really necessary for you to kill those two guards on our way here?" Olba Frost asked his brother, Shagia, as he wheeled himself in.

"They were starting to irritate me with their endless questions." Shagia replied, replacing his gun inside of its holster. "Besides, it was much easier than simply knocking them out."

The two Frost brothers were both veteran pilots from the former Earth Federation, at first only seeking the power of the lunar-based microwave system. The mechanism was designed to transmit powerful microwaves from orbiting satellites into any mobile suit or armor, converting the waves into high-intensity energy used as a weapon. The Newtype-use Gundam X and Gundam Double-X used to use the energy for their satellite cannons. Since that fateful battle in lunar orbit, the system was dormant and they had been imprisoned on Earth for their crimes. However, with the help of a benefactor from ZAFT, they were able to escape their incarceration and were instructed to come to Granada on the moon.

The Granada base was one of the few reminders from the pre-Cosmic Era wars that remained untouched on the lunar surface. After the Neo-Zeon conflict, the Earth Federation had stripped the facility bare and abandoned it, instead relocating to one of the colonies near Earth for peacetime strategy arrangements. Yet in the aftermath of the Seventh Space War and the current war with ZAFT, no one except for Shagia and Olba Frost had thought to reactivate the lunar base from its dormancy. It was here that they were told to meet with several unknown people, absolute secrecy being paramount at the moment.

"If you gentlemen are finished with your bantering..." the voice of Nanai Miguel, the current de-facto leader for the remaining Neo Zeon forces, said to them from an open doorway to a conference room. "Come on. The others are waiting." She had changed since Neo-Zeon's defeat, instead taking on a persona mirroring Kycilla Zabi towards her remaining troops. She was a difficult woman to understand at times to her subordinates, a sense of mourning shrouding her hard persona. It was true in a physical sense. She and Char Aznable were lovers shortly before his supposed demise at the hands of Amuro Ray. Yet that didn't prevent her from pulling together the representatives of several different forces against the Earth sphere. It was why she wanted Shagia and Olba Frost there, the two having worked alongside the Earth Federation at one point.

There were others seated around the table in the conference room, some of who were familiar and some who were not. Lancerow Daril, the current leader of the remaining Space Revolutionary Army and an unfortunate reminder of Char to Nanai. Dorel Ronah, the sole remaining heir-apparent to the Crossbone Vanguard as well as the youngest person seated. Finally, there was Patrick Zala, leader of the ZAFT military forces as well as Athrun Zala's father. Of all those present, it was he who was the most cryptic.

"I asked Shagia and Olba Frost to be here since they've dealt with the Old and New Earth Federation once before." Nanai explained to the assembly, her being the only woman present not affecting her in the least. "Their insight into those governments might be useful in understanding the Earth Alliance's current state."

"Although we've been in prison most of the time," Shagia said, "we did happen to keep in contact with certain 'friends' who happened to update us on current events. At the moment, the Atlantic Federation is pushing for military support from some of the neutral nations. They've even gone as far as to send troops to enforce their positions."

"From what I understand, the Orb kingdom has been one of the few holdouts." Lancerow added, having spent some time on Earth after the D.O.M.E. incident. "Being the only nation outside of Earth or ZAFT that has produced mobile suits, it would seem that they're in a position to completely alter the outcome of this war."

"True, however consider what would happen if the Alliance succeeded in overthrowing the kingdom." Dorel mentioned. "Adding their Moregenrate mobile suit facilities to their arsenal would tip the balance of power too far in their favor. If that happened, they would be in a position to directly attack the Crossbone fleets as well as ZAFT."

"Perhaps, however there is one thing here no one's considered." Patrick Zala finally spoke, his voice oddly calm as he looked at Nanai directly. He had heard about the Neo-Zeon defeat in UC 0093 and was puzzled by the woman before them. She was planning something, otherwise she wouldn't have asked all of them to be here. "Londo Bell's here on the lunar surface now. With them, according to rumor, is supposedly Amuro Ray back from the grave."

"Rest assured, Chairman Zala, that neither Amuro Ray NOR Londo Bell will pose any type of threat to us." Nanai said coldly, scowling at the mention of the almost-legendary Newtype and what happened to Char. "I already have my own devices in play to cast all of our enemies into nothing but stardust." She motioned to a figure standing silently in the shadows to come forward, smiling smugly as a revelation passed over the men present.

"...Nanai, you can't seriously mean..." Lancerow said, beginning to understand what the Neo-Zeon commander intends to do.

"What I mean, gentlemen, is that a ghost from the Earth Federation's own past is also going to be Londo Bell's destruction." Nanai answered. "Then the Earth Alliance will follow soon enough." With that, the meeting ended as the assembly began to leave the conference room. She then turned to the figure, seeing him stand perfectly at attention and ready for instructions.

"That means you too, Commander Kou Uraki." Nanai instructed. "You know what has to be done."

"Understood." The former test pilot of RX78-GP03 Gundam Stamen/Deborodorium said with a salute, turning on his heels as he walked out of the conference room. Nanai remained behind, her mind on what Patrick Zala had told her. If Amuro was back, Char would be as well. He was out there somewhere, possibly planning his own motives as well.

"Char..." Nanai thought bitterly, her thoughts turning cold at the mention of her former lover. "You're still alive somewhere, aren't you? Then understand one thing: if you interfere, I WILL kill you as well." 


End file.
